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SPIRITUAL  GIFTS, 


GIVEN  THROUGH   THE   MEDIUMSHIP 


OF 


Mrs.  CORA  L.  V.  RICHMOND. 


REPORTED  AND   PUBLISHED   I!V  G.    H.    HAWKS. 


s  A  N      IK  \  N  t :  I  S  C  O. 
Women's  Co-operative  Printing  Office,  424  Montgomery  Street. 
1884. 


7411     10 


\>  \< 


■f/ 


TO    THE     READER. 


The  Fifteen  Discourses  comprising  this  work  were  deliv- 
ered in  the  order  here  arranged,  in  San  Francisco,  during-  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1883,  arid  are  published  with  the  con- 
sent and  approval  of  their  authors. 

To  those  unfamiliar  with  spirit  control  it  may  be  of  some 
interest  to  know  that  Mrs.  Richmond  in  all  her  public  speak- 
ing is  in  a  trance  or  unconscious  state,  the  influencing  spirit 
using  the  voice  and  controlling  all  the  movements  of  the  body 
with  ease  and  grace.  Every  discourse  is  preceded  by  an 
appropriate  prayer,  and  usually  at  the  close  a  poetic  control 
gives  an  impromptu  poem  upon  a  subject  selected  by  the  audi- 
ence. 

These  pages  bear  a  power  and  an  intrinsic  merit  which  is 
stheir  own  commendation,  and  which  has  called  them  forth. 
The  profound  interest  and   attention   with  which  these  dis- 
courses were  received  by  the  people  of  San  Fi'ancisco  I  believe 
2=  to  be  a  cheering  indication  of  the  feelings  that  will  be  kindled 
Sa  in  the  world-wide  audience,  which  also  shall  listen  to  them 
J  through  the  agency  of  the  phonographer's  art  and  the  printing 
g  press. 

Whatever  may  be  the  cast  and  state  of  your  mind,  thought- 
ful reader,  and  whatever  your  knowledge  and  interpretation 
of  human  life,  I  am  confident  you  will  find  herein  much  that 
your  inner  self  will  respond  to,  many  anxious  inquiries 
answered,  much  to  relieve  in  the  great  hour  of  sorrow,  much 
to  console  and  uplift  from  the  dicouragements  and  severities 
of  the  earthly  pilgrimage,  much  to  call  forth  the  sublimity  of 
your  nature  and  challenge  your  admiration,  much  to  silence 
pride  and  uncharitable  thoughts;  and  through  all  these  pages 
you  cannot  fail  to  notice  a  great,  pleading  voice  of  love  that 
would  lead  you  calmly,  intelligently,  surely  upward  into  the 
consciousness  of  an  exalted,  abiding  spiritual  life. 

Reporteii. 


29255.'* 


I  N  D  E  X 


PAGE. 


Spirit  Life,       .  .  .  .  .1 

Spiritual  States  that  border  on  the  Material,    .  .  11 

Homes  and  Associations  in  Spirit  Life,      .  .  .21 

Extreme  States  in  Spirit  Life,      .  .  .  .31 

Occupations  and  Employments  in  Spirit  Life,       .  .     44 

Occupations  of  Geniuses  in  Spirit  Life,  .  .  57 

The  condition  in  Spirit  Life  of  Kleptomaniac,  and  those 

afflicted  with  other  mental  and  moral  disorders,  .  67 
The  Methods  of  Communion  between  the  Spiritual   and 

Material  Worlds,       .....     77-89 

Mediumship,  ......   101 

The  Gift  of  Healing,        .  .  .  .  .116 

The  Gift  of  Prophecy,         .  .  .  .  .129 

The  Gift  of  Working  Wonders,  .  .  .141 

The  Gift  of  Knowledge,      .  .  .  .  .153 

A  Summary  of  Spiritual  Gifts— Which  is  the  Best  Gift?  163 


Spirit  I4fe, 


The  Spiritualist  has  done  away  with  a  literal  Kingdom  of 
Heaven — its  walls  of  brass,  its  streets  of  gold,  its  gates  of  pearl, 
its  throne  of  alabaster — and  declares  to  the  theologian  that 
those  terms  are  symbolic  and  not  literal,  and  by  no  means 
express  the  spiritual  kingdom.  The  Spiritualist  has  done 
away  with  the  literal  kingdom  of  hell-fire,  its  lake  of  brim- 
stone,  the  literal  Gehenna,  and  substitutes  instead  a  state  or 
condition  of  the  mind  which  he  declares  must  be  the  real  hell. 

If  this  has  been  accomplished  in  the  light  of  spiritual  teach- 
ing, is  there  not  still  as  much  danger  of  the  Spiritualists  drift- 
ing into  a  literal  heaven  or  a  literal  hell  as  the  theologian 
whom  he  criticised  with  his  first  teaching  ? 

If  the  realm  of  the  spirit  is  a  realm  of  organic  life,  then  it 
must  be  subject  to  heat  and  cold,  to  the  influence  of  the  sun's 
rays,  to  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  whatever  affects  the  sub- 
stances of  the  earth  and  the  planets.  If  it  be  thus  situated,  it 
is  more  material,  if  possible.,  than  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
which  the  theologian  has  pictured. 

When  a  man  comes  to  you  in  abject  misery,  you  do  not  see 
the  misery  on  his  clothing  urdess  it  be  the  misery  of  poverty 
that  can  afford  no  better  raiment.  You  do  not  always  see  it 
depicted  upon  his  countenance,  but  when  you  enter  into  his 
thought,  when  he  takes  you  into  his  confidence,  he  says  :  "I 
am  in  hell."  What  is  that  hell?  It  is  a  state  of  unhappiness, 
which,  if  he  were  in  spirit  life  to-morrow,  would  probably 
accompany  him  there  and  constitute,  in  spiritual  existence, 
his  state. 

If  a  man  comes  to  you  surrounded  by  poor  conditions  in 
earthly  life,  with  barely  subsistence  enough  upon  which  the 
body  can  feed  from  day  to  day,  and  still  he  says  to  you:  "  I 
am  perfectly  happy,  I  am  in  heaven,"  you  certainly  do  not 
attribute  that  to  his  physical  surroundings,  nor  is  it  any  part 
of  his  physical  organic  structure.  If  he  passes  into  spirit  life 
to-morrow,  he  takes  that  heaven  with  him,  and  it  constitutes 
the  realm  of  life  in  which  he  there  lives. 


The  Spiritualist  is  prone,  in  presenting  the  spiritual  world 
so  that  it  shall  seem  real  to  humanity,  to  mistake  substance 
and  material  life,  organic  and  literal  life,  for  reality.  By  far 
the  greater  portion  and  only  portion  of  your  real  life  to-day,  at 
this  instant,  is  not  the  surroundings,  is  not  this  assembly,  not 
your  clothing,  nor  the  seats  that  you  occupy,  not  the  bodies 
that  are  visible  to  one  another,  but  the  thought  that  lies  con- 
cealed in  your  hearts  and  minds,  which  makes  up  the  world 
or  entity  that  you  inhabit;  and  you  gaze  out  on  these  surround- 
ing scenes,  not  with  reference  to  their  existence  merely,  but 
with  reference  to  your  comprehension  of  them.  The  man  of 
narrow  views  and  limited  ideas,  deficient  in  thought  and  cul- 
ture, and  combination  of  color  and  size,  sees  everything  per- 
verted by  that  lack  of  comprehension;  while  he  who  has  clear- 
ness of  ideas,  sees  the  world  of  matter  with  reference  to  his 
conception  and  not  with  reference  to  the  material  world  itself. 

Man's  existence  upon  the  earth  is  an  ideal  existence;  is  the 
result  of  the  thought  that  precedes  him.  Man  is  more  than 
a  chemical  compound,  which  eats,  drinks,  sleeps  and  propa- 
gates itself,  and  then  passes  away. 

That  which  constitutes  humanity  upon  the  earth  is  the  broad, 
ideal  realm  that  beautifies  what  it  touches,  shapes  matter  into 
forms  adapted  to  its  ideal,  trains  the  elements  that  are  around 
man,  and  brings  them  into  subjection  to  his  thought  .and  rea- 
son, making  a  realm  of  supernatural  or  real  existence  within, 
in  the  midst  of  this  material  world. 

There  have  been  given  various  discourses  illustrating  the 
fact  that  matter  is  not  continuous  in  its  organization,  that  it 
cannot  be  relied  upon  in  its  appearance  to  the  senses;  that  it 
can  be  rendered  invisible  and  visible  alike,  without  the  agency 
or  aid  of  material  law,  and  that  if  you  predicate  existence  upon 
the  sphere  of  material  life  within,  man's  existence  must  dwin- 
dle to  the  narrow  sphere  that  is  occupied  by  the  atom,  instead 
of  the  infinite  realm  occupied  by  the  soul. 

I  know  of  no  reason  why  Spiritualists  should  make  the 
standards  of  life  material.  I  know  of  no  reason  why  the  Spir- 
itualist should  confine  him  or  herself  to  this  worship  of  mat- 
ter that  constitutes  organic  expression,  instead  of  the  realm 
of  spirit  that  constitutes  the  source  of  life. 


It  is  well  enough  for  the  Materialist,  who  surmises  that  there 
is  no  realm  of  spirit,  to  endeavor  to  explain  all  the  phenomena 
in  human  life  by  the  standards  of  so-called  material  science. 
But  it  is  certainly  a  work  of  supererogation  for  the  Spritualist 
who  believes  in  a  spiritual  standard  of  existence,  who  compre- 
hends that  the  spirit  is  the  source  of  life,  and  who,  if  there  is 
an  existence  beyond  the  material  life,  must  know  that  that 
existence  is  superior  to  the  material  life,  and,  therefore,  not 
dependent  upon  it — we  say  that  it  is  superfluous  for  him  to 
make  the  standards  of  existence  material  instead  of  spiritual. 

The  great  proposition,  therefore,  underlying  all  this,  is  : 
must  anything  be  material  in  order  to  be  real  ?  And  we 
answer  emphatically,  conclusively  and  forever,  no  !  Reality 
is  not  materiality.  If  so,  there  is  nothing  real  in  life  ;  there  is 
nothing  in  aspiration;  there  is  nothing  in  any  portion  of 
human  life  or  history.  If  matter  be  the  only  reality,  then  that 
which  is  not  thought,  which  is  not  creation,  which  is  not  law, 
nor  life,  nor  intelligence,  must  be  the  only  enduring  and 
real  thing  in  the  universe.  To  be  real,  a  thing  must  be  re- 
lated to  and  form  a  part  of  that  which  is  eternal.  To  be  real, 
anything  must  exist  with  reference  to  the  source  of  being.  To 
be  real,  there  must  be  indestructibility,  and  this  does  not 
apply  to  any  form,  combination  or  law  of  material  existence. 
The  very  word  ''substance,"  which  applies  to  that  of  which 
the  earthMs  made,  and  which  is  a  term  used  to  express  an  infe- 
rior condition,  is  that  which  is  beneath,  that  which  is  less  than 
the  something  which  is  above  and  beyond  that;  to  be  real,  some- 
thing must  not  be  substance,  but  must  be  the  superior,  the 
source,  the  higher,  that  which  is  beyond,  that  which  is  above, 
that  which  is  innermost  to  the  material  life. 

When  you  are,  therefore,  in  the  spiritual  life  separated  from 
the  organic  body,  you  are  in  the  same  realm  of  reality  that  you 
occupy  now  in  your  thoughts,  feelings,  affections,  aspirations, 
hopes,  prophecies,  and  all  that  constitutes  the  real  man  and 
woman  here  below.  When  you  are  in  spirit  life  separated  from 
the  mantle  of  clay  which  encompasses  you,  and  which  forms 
the  imperfect  instrument  of  human  expression,  the  powers  of 
the  spirit  are  set  free  for  expression  in  their  natural  realm.  As 
the  bird  to  the  air,  as  the  fish  to  the  water,  so  the  spirit  cleaves 
to  the  realm  of  spirit. 


You  do  not  go  into  spirit  life  when  you  are  dead;  you  do  not 
depart  into  any  distant  realm.  Your  spiritual  life  becomes 
then  the  centre  of  your  conscious  action,  as  the  physical  life  is 
seemingly  the  centre  of  your  conscious  action  here,  and  you  re- 
move yourself  from,  or  are  removed  from,  the  limitations  of  time 
to  the  unlimited  condition  of  spiritual  existence.  Precisely  this 
would  occur  this  morning-;  you  hasten  in  your  bodily  conscious- 
ness to  arrive  here  in  time,  but  once  here,  if  occupied  with  the 
thought  that  pervades  the  discourse,  you  are  unconscious  of 
the  lapse  of  time,  because  thought  takes  no  cognizance  of  time 
unless  associated  with  the  senses  and  some  condition  of  your 
bodily  state.  Now,  your  spirit  friends — who  are  just  as  much 
here  as  you  are — who  are  not  dependent  upon  time  and  the  phy- 
sical sense,  but  only  upon  the  spiritual  condition  of  attraction 
and  adaptation,  are  here,  because  attracted  here — not  limited 
by  the  physical  hindrances  of  the  body,  in  order  to  come  here, 
and  not  having  to  experience  that  haste  and  fatigue,  and  all 
that  endurance  which  you  experience  in  coming  here  bodily, 
because  if  your  wish  pervaded  the  body  as  fully  as  their  wish 
governs  the  spirit,  then  you  would  be  here  when  you  think  of 
being  here. 

Some  one  has  said  in  answer,  or  in  attempted  answer,  to  our 
position  upon  this  subject  :  "  We  know  this  is  a  flower,  but  it 
is  not  a  thought."  I  beg  your  pardon,  whosoever  said  it. 
How  could  vou  know  it  is  a  flower  without  the  thought  ? 

If  you  think  and  thereby  know  it  is  a  flower,  you  know  a 
thought  must  have  made  it,  even  if  it  is  not  your  thought. 
Because  you  did  not  make  it  is  no  evidence  that  there  was  no 
thought  in  its  creation,  for  no  one  in  the  universe  of  human 
life  can  be  supposed  to  have  been  the  source  of  all  the  thoughts 
in  the  universe. 

There  is  a  time-piece;  if  you  enter  this  room  and  there  is  no 
means  by  which  }rou  can  tell  who  is  the  maker  of  that  time- 
piece, you  still  know  to  a  positive  certainty  it  was  made  by 
somebody,  and  that  somebody  had  the  knowledge  of  time  ; 
that  he  adapted  its  construction  to  the  known  laws  and  move- 
ments of  the  earth  upon  its  axis  and  around  the  sun. 

Now,  we  have  the  same  key  to  the  intelligence  of  the  uni- 
verse that  you  have  to  the  expression  of  material  objects  around 
you. 


In  disentombing  an  ancient  city,  no  man  says:  "This 
was  the  result  of  law;  nobody  ever  made  this."  But  he  says  : 
"  I  see  evidences  of  human  life  here;  "  and  he  presumes  upon 
that  that  human  beings  have  occupied  that  ancient  city,  and 
he  judges  by  the  laws  that  govern  human  life,  by  the  thought 
that  is  manifest,  the  intelligence  and  purpose  that  is  there. 

In  the  fabric  of  the  universe  there.is  geometry,  there  is  form, 
there  is  the  law  of  mathematics,  there  is  the  law  of  unity, 
there  is  everything  that  indicates  intelligence;  and  though  no 
one  has  ever  seen  human  thought  or  Divine  intelligence,  we 
know  that  it  is  there,  and  that  thought  has  created  everything 
in  the  universe. 

If  not,  plant  a  stone  and  see  if  it  will  be  a  lily  ?  Never  ! 
Nor  can  you  by  any  process  change  it  into  a  lily,  except  by 
the  original  thought  or  germ  that  causes  the  effect,  i.  e.,  the 
lily  which  you  see. 

In  spirit  life  you  are  one  degree  nearer  to  the  thought;  you 
are  one  step  nearer  to  the  source  of  things. 

To-day  in  the  human  life  there  is  an  invention;  perhaps  an 
electric  machine,  perhaps  a  steam-engine  or  a  new  motor 
power.  If  you  were  in  spirit  life  a  hundred  years  ago,  or  fifty 
years  ago,  or  twenty-five  years  ago,  that  thought  of  the  steam- 
engine  was  more  of  a  reality  there  than  it  is  to-day  upon  the 
earth,  because  nearer  to  the  source  of  invention. 

All  the  secrets  of  mechanical  forces,  everything  that  is  less 
than  mind,  is  more  easily  discovered  in  spirit  life,  since  man 
does  not  depend  on  experiment,  on  the  physical  senses,  but  on 
perception  for  discovery  of  the  principles  that  govern  the  mate- 
rial universe.  You  are  placed,  therefore,  in  spirit  life  with 
reference  to  yourself  instead  of  the  objective  world  around 
you,  and  that  which  you  term  the  objective  while  in  the  earthly 
life,  becomes  there  the  subjective.  This  is  why  spirits  can 
overcome  the  law  of  gravitation.  This  is  why  they  can  move 
substances,  seemingly  through  solid  walls;  the  material  of  the 
earth  is  subjective  to  them. 

But  that  which  is  not  amenable,  that  which  is  not  overcome, 
and  that  which  can  never  be  conquered,  save  by  the  adequate 
spiritual  powers,  are  the  faults  and  imperfections  of  each 
human  being.     These  are  the  obstacles  of  spiritual  growth,  so 


that  which  seemed  to  you  subjective  here — the  thought,  the 
emotion,  the  hatred,  the  love — becomes  the  objective  in  spirit- 
ual life;  and  this  is  why  we  say  that  man  in  spirit  is  sur- 
rounded by  himself  and  his  own  creation. 

It  seems  plain  enough,  and  yet  Spiritualists  must  have  the 
broken  fragments  of  material  resemblance  in  order  to  think 
that  spirit  life  is  a  reality.  It  seems  distinct  enough  that  you 
inhabit  the  realm  of  your  own  affections  and  attributes. 

Even  here  the  houses  in  which  you  dwell,  and  the  lands 
that  you  covet,  form  no  part  of  your  real  existence;  and  when 
taken  away  from  the  organic  condition  that  links  you  to  the 
material  life,  why  not  enter  into  the  realm  which  makes  that 
life  a  reality,  instead  of  dragging  after  you  the  semblance  of 
life  ?  Here  below,  a  man  journeying  to  the  tropics  does  not 
take  with  him  the  furs  that  he  wears  when  he  journeys  toward 
the  North  Pole.  If  he  does,  he  finds  they  are  cumbersome  ; 
and  he  who  is  journeying  toward  the  Poles  does  not  take  with 
him  the  light  raiment  that  he  wears  in  the  tropics. 

So  you  can  conceive  of  an  existence  where  neither  cold  or 
heat  are  found,  that  there  would  be  no  need  of  the  organic 
raiment  of  earth.  Why  not  be  surrounded  by  that  which  con- 
stitutes the  reality  of  the  existence  into  which  you  enter  ? 
Why  not  consider  that  the  substance  of  thought  is  far  more 
real  in  spirit  life  than  in  the  material  form  which  you  can  con- 
ceive, even  though  it  were  the  ultimate  atom  ? 

There  are  those  who  say  :  "  It  is  not  spiritual  existence,  but 
refined  matter  ?  " 

Why  must  it  be  refined  matter,  since  we  have  said  to  you 
that  the  standard  of  reality  in  spirit  life  is  not  material,  but 
spiritual  ?  And  since,  if  it  were  refined  matter,  it  would  be  of 
no  more  use  to  you  than  the  mist  that  gradually  rises  around 
the  mountain  and  passes  away  in  vapor,  and  entering  into  a 
realm  that  is  all  reality,  it  would  form  no  part  of  that  exist- 
ence.    Then  why  must  spirit  and  spirit  life  be  refined  matter  ? 

But  if  there  are  houses,  and  lands,  and  landscapes,  and  pic- 
tures, and  statues,  and  temples,  must  these  not  be  material  ? 

Why  be  material,  since  they  would  be  less  tangible  to  the 
spirit  than  the  thought  of  which  they  really  are  composed  ? 

Can  you  not  understand  that  in  the  relationships  of  spirit 


to  matter,  that  is  less  tangible  to  the  spirit  that  is  material,  in 
its  spiritual  existence,  than  spirit  is  to  the  man  in  his  material 
existence  ? 

If  you  had  material  fabrics  in  spirit  life,  you  would  not  per- 
ceive them  at  all.  Why  take  the  lumbering  habiliments  of 
material  conditions  when  the  spirit  cannot  use  them  ?  And  if 
the  thought  is  there — which  constitutes  the  only  expression  in 
material  life,  and  that  is  tangible  and  real  to  the  spirit — whence 
the  necessity  for  the  material  of  which  you  consider  the  forms 
must  be  made  ? 

All  the  mistake  is,  that  when  spirits  converse  with  mortals 
and  teach  them  concerning  their  condition,  there  must  be  used 
illustrations  that  conform  to  your  comprehension.  As  you 
take  the  blocks  upon  which  the  printed  letters  are  placed  to 
build  words  for  the  child  to  read — of  which  the  blocks  form 
no  part,  and  which  he  cannot  take  with  him  to  the  printed 
book  or  to  the  classics — so  you,  in  the  divine  language  of  the 
spirit  and  the  conceptions  of  spiritual  existence,  must  still 
have  the  blocks  of  wood  upon  which  the  alphabet  of  material 
life  is  printed. 

Of  what  value  to  the  man  of  learning,  sitting  in  his  study, 
are  the  blocks  upon  which  the  child  learns  to  read,  because  it 
appeals  to  his  literal  mind  ?  So  in  spirit  life,  when  you  cease 
to  depend  upon  the  physical  senses  for  your  standards,  you 
can  understand  that  reality  differs  from  materiality,  as  thought, 
feeling,  aspiration  and  affection  differ  from  the  clothing  that 
you  wear,  -that  is  insentiate  and  lifeless. 

In  this  real  realm  of  the  spirit  all  states  and  conditions  are 
represented  true  to  themselves;  the  exact  pictured  image  of 
their  condition  of  mind  is  found  there,  since  the  slow  process 
of  time  and  material  change  are  not  required  to  express  them. 

We  know  of  one  instance  of  a  spirit  recently  departed,  as 
you  term  it,  into  spirit  life;  that  is,  having  recently  thrown  off 
the  material  conditions  and  become  conscious  of  the  spiritual 
state,  a  feeling  of  doubt  came  over  the  spirit  as  to  whether  the 
change  called  death  had  really  transpired. 

With  that  feeling  of  doubt  the  whole  spirit  form  was  suf- 
fused in  shadow  and  the  spirit  was  startled.  As  soon  as  the 
doubt  was  removed  by  the  perception  of  the   spirit  that  the 


8 

change  called  death  had  really  transpired,  and  he  recognized 
the  spirit  friends  around,  the  whole  spirit  form  became  radiant 
and  translucent.  Thus  every  thought  is  instantaneously  pic- 
tured or  expressed  upon  the  spirit  form. 

How  different  is  this  from  the  material  body.  It  is  true 
that  the  dearly  beloved  friend  can  read  in  your  changeful 
countenance  here  the  sadness  or  the  joy  that  fills  your  heart  ; 
and  it  is  true  that  long  years  of  vice  and  crime  will  leave  their 
indelible  lines  upon  the  human  countenance.  But  it  is  no 
less  true  that  years  may  lapse,  and  the  face  may  be  a  mask 
behind  which  the  sordid  motive  and  the  selfish  thought  lies 
concealed,  only  by  slow  degrees  making  inroads  upon  the 
physical  form. 

Not  so  in  spirit  ;  instantaneously  the  objects  that  are  the 
result  of  youf  state  throng  around  you  and  form  the  expres- 
sion of  your  ideas,  and  are  suffused  with  the  light  or  shadow 
that  is  in  your  mind.  Instantaneously  every  thought  finds 
expression  in  such  form  or  in  such  manner  as  is  best  required 
to  typify  your  condition  and  to  reach  those  whom  you  desire 
to  reach. 

In  spirit  life  thoughts  are  simply  pictured  upon  your  sur- 
roundings in  exact  correspondence  to  their  perfection  or  im- 
perfection, and  the  realm  which  you  inhabit,  therefore,  must 
still  be  stated  as  the  realm  of  your  own  ideas. 

If  you  are  thinking  of  any  friend,  or  if  you  desire  to  reach 
any  friend,  that  thought  takes  the  form  that  is  best  adapted 
to  reach  that  one.  If  it  is  language  that  they  can  understand, 
ft  takes  the  form  of  words.  If  they  are  in  earthly  life,  the 
language  corresponds  to  the  words  that  they  are  accustomed 
:o  hear.  If  they  require  symbolical  expression,  then  the 
thought  takes  the  form  of  the  symbol  which  they  best  under- 
stand. As  in  ancient  days  the  symbol  of  peace  was  the  dove, 
so  in  all  the  ancient  records  you  read  about  the  symbol  of  the 
dove  that  was  seen  flying  from  the  Ark,  and  the  symbol  of  the 
dove  that  came  down  from  heaven,  which  is  the  exact  expression 
of  what  may  represent  a  spiritual  or  angelic  thought.  Many 
clairvoyants  or  mediums  see  around  you  symbols  that  are 
given  as  the  result  of  spirit  messages;  flowers  wreathed  around 
you,  symbols  of  doves,  or  birds,   or  rainbows,   or  stars,  all  of 


which  are  the  expression  of  the  thought  your  spirit  friends 
desire  sahll  reach  you. 

When  you  speak  of  flowers  being  brought  from  the 
spiritual  world — why  the  whole  realm  of  thought  is  a  flower 
garden,  and  the  soul  itself  is  the  source  of  that  life  that 
is  symbolized  in  flowers.  When  you  speak  of  stars  being 
brought  from  Heaven  as  an  expression  of  spiritual  bright- 
ness, every  spirit  is  a  star  that  shines  out  in  the  darkness 
of  time,  reaching  you  by  the  symbol  that  shall  best  express 
the  thought  and  condition  of  spirit  life  to  you.  And 
when  you  hear  of  homes  and  cottages  nestling  in  the  si- 
lent forest,  and  streams  that  flow  down  the  vales,  of  hills 
that  are  covered  with  verdure,  you  must  not  think  thereby 
that  these  are  as  moveless,  as  changeless  as  the  hills  over 
which  man  has  climbed  for  ages  here.  But  they  are  the  ever- 
varying  thoughts  of  the  spirit  that  gives  expression  to  them; 
and  he  who  is  the  artist,  pictures  for  his  friends  the  realm  of 
his  existence  in  transcending  scenes  of  loveliness  and  beauty 
of  which  the  earth  has  no  prototype;  dissolving  views  that  re- 
veal the  ever-varying  aspirations  of  the  soul,  and  pictures  that 
melt  and  merge  away  in  the  grand  harmony  of  existence- 
sight,  sound,  sensation,  all  blended  in  the  divine  perception 
of  the  soul  ;  and  when  you  tell  us  that  this  is  not  reality,  I 
go  to  the  soul  of  my  friend  who  has  made  these  pictures  for 
me,  and  I  say:  "  Make  me  again  the  living  image  that  I  saw;'" 
and  there  it  is  pictured  before  me  as  beautiful,  as  truthful  as 
ever. 

The  steam-engine,  which  a  collision  will  demolish,  and 
which  in  all  its  parts  can  be  entirely  destroyed,  is  very  differ- 
ent from  the  engine  in  the  mind  of  the  inventor  or  builder  who 
makes  one  upon  which  to  model  a  new  material  shadow  ;  and 
if  you  depended  for  all  instruments  of  human  invention  upon 
.the  models  which  are  made  in  clay  or  material  substance,  you 
woidd  have  no  mechanical  science  from  one  day  to  another, 
for  the  slightest  material  accident  would  destroy  your  model. 

But  the  soul  of  the  inventor  fortunately  cannot  be  destroyed 

by  collisions  or  earthly  decay;  and  out  in  the  world  of  spirits, 

where  all  his  genius  has  perfect  play,  his  models  are  revealed 

with  such  perfection  that  the  dull  mechanism  of  earth  would 

(2) 


10 

seem  but  a  clumsy  wheelbarrow  compared  to  the  fiery  chariot 
of  the  sun. 

Talk  not  of  reality  when  twenty-five,  fifty  years  have  not 
sufficed  to  bring  to  perfect  expression  in  material  life  the  idea 
of  the  steam  motor,  which  is  perfect  in  the  spirit.  Talk  not 
of  material  standards,  when  Edison  and  his  coadjutors  are 
probing-  through  the  senses  to  give  expression  to  that  perfect 
light  of  electricity  which  for  a  century  has  gleamed  in  the 
realm  of  the  spirit  a  transcendent  flame.  Talk  not  of  the 
great  powers  of  the  human  mind  submerged  in  the  senses, 
wrhen  even  now  in  the  realm  uf  spiritual  invention  a  new  mo- 
tor power  is  waiting  for  your  laggard  brains — the  great  motor 
power  of  the  future,  that  shall  set  at  naught  electricity  and 
steam,  and  bring  you  face  to  face  with  the  great  motor  of  the 
centuries — the  sun's  rays,  that  like  the  vast  heart  of  the  In- 
finite, pulsates  through  all  planets  and  worlds,  keeping  them 
in  their  places.  And  man,  as  yet,  has  failed  to  catch  the  in- 
spiration of  their  light.  Earthquakes,  fashioned  by  them, 
planets  whirled  into  their  places  by  the  law  of  solar  light  and 
heat;  yet  man  says  the  outward  senses  are  the  standards  of  life, 
while  this  great  living  pulse  has  beat  on  for  ages,  and  the 
spirits  are  waiting  for  the  man  to  be  born  who  shall  have  in- 
telligence enough  to  receive  the  invention. 

Surely  you  are  drawing  nearer  to  the  real  life,  and  in  the 
succession  of  discourses  that  shall  follow,  we  shall  endeavor 
to  picture  to  you  those  states  and  conditions  in  spirit  life 
that  shall  more  and  more  fully  express  the  reality  of  that 
winch  is  not  material. 


11 


Spiritual  States 
That  Border  on  the  Material, 


In  our  last  discourse  we  endeavored  to  show  that  the  reality 
of  spiritual  existence  does  not  depend  upon  its  materiality, 
and  that  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  life  is  not  material,  but 
is  real  in  its  divine  spirituality. 

We  will  endeavor  on  this  occasion  to  show  some  of  those 
states  that  border  upon  the  material  existence,  not  because 
they  are  material,  but  because  of  the  conditions  of  the  spirits 
who  suppose  that  materiality  is  necessary  to  life.  It  is  un- 
questionably true,  however,  that  no  human  being,  however 
degraded  his  or  her  condition  in  mortal  life,  passes  into 
spirit  life  without  taking  one  step  in  advance.  We  mean  by 
this  that  they  do  not  take  a  step  in  advance  of  those  who  are 
elevated,  and  pure,  and  spiritual,  but  for  them  individually 
the  change  is  one  step  forward,  and  they  are  brought  nearer 
to  the  source  of  things,  and  their  own  real  condition  more 
nearly  revealed  to  them. 

It  is  said  by  many — and  this  doubtless  has  its  origin  in  the 
old  theological  idea — that  the  earth  is  haunted  with  demons 
instead  of  angels,  and  that  the  demon  of  terror  is  walking 
around  in  order  to  ensnare  you  with  temptation.  So  in  Spir- 
itualism there  is  one  bugbear — evil  spirits  ;  and  our  discourse 
this  morning  would  border  upon  those  conditions  that  are 
called  evil,  and  their  prototypes  in  spirit  life,  and  their  influ- 
ence or  capacity  over  mortals. 

Every  one  in  human  life  occupies  a  position  which  Lis  or  her 
spiritual  unfoldment  will  warrant  ;  Ave  mean  by  that  spiritu- 
ally. You  each  individually  are  not  governed  or  swayed  by 
your  surroundings  except  in  the  degree  of  your  weaknesses. 
Those  weaknesses  make  you  the  subjects  of  what  are  called 
temptations. 

Now,  spirits  in  spirit  life  pass  there  with  their  unfoldment 
or  their  spiritual  ignorance,  but  the  fact  of  their  passing  into 
spirit  life  gives  them  no  greater  power,  no  more  control  over 


12 

others  ;  nor  does  it  indeed  make  them  a  positive  force  over 
human  life. 

As  we  have  explained  to  you  that  spirit  is  a  reality  in  spirit 
life,  so  we  would  explain  to-day  that  the  primal  force  and  pos- 
itive element  of  spirit  life  must  be  that  which  is  most  spirit- 
ual; as  Truth,  Goodness,  Purity,  are  the  higher  expressions  of 
man's  spiritual  condition,  so  there  must  be  most  power  in 
goodness,  truth  and  purity  in  a  world  where  those  elements 
constitute  the  primal  and  positive  force. 

Let  us  explain  :  There  is  no  vitality  in  the  atmosphere 
where  the  sun's  rays  cannot  penetrate  ;  there  is  no  atom,  pro- 
bably, composing  all  of  the  organic  structures  of  the  earth 
that  has  not  at  some  time  been  vitalized  by  the  sun's  rays. 
And  it  is  because  of  this  great  primal  motor  power  in  the  solar 
system  that  your  planet  is  enabled  to  develop  her  organic 
structures  and  vital  life.  The  vital  life  of  spiritual  existence 
is  Goodness  ;  the  negative  of  light  in  the  earthly  state  is  dark- 
ness ;  the  negative  of  goodness  in  the  spiritual  state  is  evil  or 
ignorance. 

Now,  as  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  the  shadow  that  lurks  in 
the  corner  there  to  come  out  and  fill  this  room,  but  as  it  is 
quite  possible  for  the  light  to  penetrate  into  that  shadow  and 
make  it  less  a  shadow,  so  in  the  power  of  the  spirit  the  good 
is  the  light  of  the  next  existence,  and  only  those  who  are  in 
the  darkness  of  ignorance  can  be  in  the  shadow -land;  and  as 
shadow  is  negative,  not  positive,  it  cannot  encroach  upon  light 
or  goodness.  A  shadow  added  to  another  shadow  may  make 
added  darkness,  but  there  can  be  no  power  to  overcome  the 
light ;  even  the  simplest  ray  of  light  penetrating  the  darkest 
dungeon  cell  of  earth,  will  reach  the  remote  corner  and  quicken 
the  little  grain  of  seed.  You  have  many  times,  perhaps,  seen 
a  root  in  some  remote  corner  of  the  cellar  begin  to  grow  if 
there  is  one  ray  of  light  to  pierce  the  darkness  ;  but  the 
shadow  cannot  pierce  the  light. 

"  Evil  spirits,"  as  you  term  them,  therefore,  are  the  shadows 
of  the  other  world  ;  they  cannot  darken  your  sunshine  ;  they 
cannot  break  in  upon  your  light;  but  coming  in  contact  with 
your  light  your  goodness  may  illumine  their  darkness  ;  but 
they  cannot  overshadow  your  goodness  by  their  darkness. 


13 

The  great  primal  curse  of  man  is — first:  the  fear  of  death, 
and  then  the  fear  of  evil.  Fear  itself  is  as  great  a  vice  and 
as  deep  a  shadow  as  one  can  well  possess  ;  for  fear  proves  not 
onl}'  a  doubt  to  one's  own  moral  condition,  but  a  distrust  of 
the  Inhnite  love  and  moral  probity  of  God.  Therefore,  as 
"  perfect  love  casteth  out  all  fear,"  so  perfect  goodness  must 
cast  out  all  fear  of  that  which  can  come  from  the  shadow  of 
evil. 

But  as  human  states  are  imperfect,  and  as  none  are  abso- 
lutely good,  so  none  are  wholly  evil.  But  what  we  wish  most 
to  call  your  attention  to  is— -first:  that  while  in  human  life  the 
degraded,  and  the  ignorant,  and  the  criminal  only  reveal  to 
you,  or  you  only  perceive  their  shadowy  side,  that  there  still 
is  not  one  of  these  in  whom  there  is  not  some  ray  of  light 
from  the  positive  side  of  existence — the  spiritual  ;  and  when 
death  comes  to  release  them,  or  when  the  change  called  death 
intercepts  their  human  existence,  and  they  are  placed  face  to 
face  with  the  reality  of  their  own  condition,  they  are  not, 
therefore,  filled  with  power  but  with  weakness. 

Have  you  ever  seen  a  man  confronted  with  his  crime,  shrink- 
ing away  from  the  consciousness  of  detection  with  fear  and 
crino-inof?  Have  vou  ever  seen  in  the  midst  of  truth  how 
falsehood  betrays  itself  and  strives  to  fly  away  from  the  peace- 
ful yet  clear  light  of  the  vanquishing  nature  of  truth  '?  Such 
is  the  condition  of  ignorance  and  crime.  In  spirit  life,  im- 
mured in  one's  own  condition,  one  may  not  be  aware  that 
one's  state  is  a  state  of  negation,  because  to  the  individual 
the  reality  of  one's  own  state  becomes  more  and  more  appa- 
rent,  and  more  and  more  appalling.  Such  must  have 
been  the  states  of  darkness  into  which  Dante  gazed  when 
he  looked  into  purgatory  ;  this  condition  within  the  individ- 
ual where  they  bear  with  them  their  atmosphere  of  darkness, 
and  conscious  of  their  own  condition,  how  could  they  be 
powerful  to  do  harm  to  others  ? 

If  you  go  out  into  a  fog  or  mist,  with  the  intention  of  run- 
ning down  a  ship  at  sea,  you  will  be  very  likely  to  be  the  vic- 
tim of  your  own  intention,  especially  if  the  ship  has  a  light 
that  is  far  above  you,  and  cannot  only  see  its  own  course  but 
yours  also. 


14 

The  man  of  evil  intentions  is  like  a'  pirate  instead  of  a  mer- 
chant ship,  and  passing  into  spirit  life,  he  carries  with  him 
the  mists  and  shadows  of  his  own  state,  and  he  would  strike 
blindly  if  he  struck  forth  to  injure  others. 

It  is  a  singular  law  of  spiritual  existence  that  the  centre  of 
attraction  for  every  spiritual  force  is  the  individual,  and  that 
as  the  individual  is  bright,  or  beautiful,  or  good,  all  spiritual 
force  that  resembles  that  state  will  be  drawn  toward  the  indi- 
vidual. If  you  send  forth  prayers,  they  return  in  blessings; 
if  you  send  forth  good  thoughts,  they  return  in  beautiful  im- 
ages to  surround  you  ;  and  if  you  send  forth  shadows,  they 
envelope  you  in  shadows,  for  yon  surround  yourself  with  your 
own  thoughts  and  conceptions.  If  it  were  possible  for  the 
spirit  to  steal,  think  of  murder,  revenge,  or  any  condition 
resembling  those  states,  that  same  law  of  which  we  speak  would 
send  this  thought  back  upon  him  or  herself,  and  redouble  the 
shadows  around  them,  until  by  the  very  overwhelming  weight 
of  their  own  condition  the  spirit  would  strive  to  overcome  it. 

Another  thought  that  we  wish  to  convey  is,  that  however 
distinct  the  individual  life  may  seem,  and  however  actual,  the 
condition  may  depend  upon  the  state  within  yourselves. 
Spirits  are  all  governed  by  one  law  :  as  nature  is  governed  by 
light,  so  is  the  realm  of  spirit  governed  by  the  higher  power 
of  goodness. 

Though  the  light  may  call  forth  from  the  slim}*  pool  of  earth 
the  life  corresponding  to  that  pool,  still  that  life  has  not  the 
power  to  leave  its  own  slimy  condition  and  fly  in  the  face  of 
the  sunshine  ;  only  high  forms  of  being  that  have  wings  can 
fly  toward  the  sun.  And  so  it  is  with  the  light  of  the  spirit- 
ual world  ;  it  may  penetrate  the  conditions  that  are  illustra- 
tive of  ignorance  and  darkness,  and  even  quicken  into  being, 
for  the  purpose  of  throwing  off  that  state,  all  these  slumber- 
ing attributes. 

But  they  cannot,  any  more  than  the  tadpole  in  the  slimy 
pool,  shut  out  the  light  of  the  sun  or  prevent  its  radiance 
from  penetrating  the  atmosphere. 

Those  who  fly  sunward,  must,  like  the  eagle,  have  lofty 
aspirations;  or  like  the  butterfly,  must  be  risen  from  the  condi- 
tion of  the  dust,  and  be  capable  of  feeding  upon  the  dew  of 
flowers  instead  of  clay. 


15 

Therefore,  again  we  would  say,  do  not  live  in  the  habitation 
of  fear  concerning  the  evil  that  can  visit  you  from  the  other 
world.  No  spirit  ever  approaches  any  medium  to  reveal  their 
condition,  who  does  not  approach  under  permission.  None 
indeed,  save  those  who  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  various  links 
and  conditions  that  point  you  to  the  spirit  life;  and  as  for 
injury,  each  individual  contains  within  himself  thoughts  and 
feelings  far  more  injurious  than  the  combined  spirit  world 
could  ever  visit  upon  you,  were  it  desirous  of  doing  you  harm. 

The  kingdoms  of  light  must  be  more  potent  than  the  king- 
doms of  darkness,  and  down  through  the  various  ages  of  spir- 
itual existence  this  positive  power  descends,  reaching,  moving, 
governing  and  guiding,  even  unconsciously,  those  who  have 
entered  the  realm  of  spiritual  existence.  While  you,  here  in 
the  mortal  state,  partly  governed  by  the  spirit,  partly  by  the 
sensuous  nature  around  you,  have  perverted  the  positive  order 
of  existence  by  deeming  that  matter  is  the  centre  of  all  force, 
and  that  everything  in  the  universe  must  bend  to  its  laws. 
We  think,  notwithstanding  this  imperfect  condition,  and  not- 
withstanding that  you  pervert  the  order  of  the  universe,  that 
the  positive  spiritual  force  of  the  universe  is  not  only  spirit 
but  goodness  ;  and  that  if  this  were  not  true  there  would  be 
sublime  harmony  in  the  thought  of  propitiating  the  good 
graces  of  his  Satanic  Majesty,  as  most  of  the  Orientals  do,  or 
as  many  do  unconsciously,  by  giving  him  a  larger  place  in 
their  thoughts  and  devotions  than  the  Love  and  Divinity 
above  and  around  you. 

Do  not  worship,  therefore,  from  fear,  this  shadowv  image  oi 
evil  spirits,  but  philosophically  receive  that  which  gives  you 
the  explanation  and  clue  to  all  spiritual  states;  since  spirits 
disembodied,  whatever  the  thought  of  their  condition  be  here, 
still  have  the  truth  of  this  positive  light. 

But  many  say  :  "  We  have  known  spirits  to  come  and 
swear." 

Perhaps  you  could  not  recognize  them  unless  they  did  ;  for 
he  who  passeth  from  the  earth  with  an  oath  upon  his  lips 
might  not  be  recognized  if  he  came  with  prayers  and  psalms. 
You  perhaps  may  have  heard  that  General  Andrew  Jackson 
scarcely  used  a  sentence  without  ornamenting  it  with  an  oath. 


16 

and  a  clergyman,  calling  him  to  account  for  this,  he  explained 
it  by  saying  :  "  My  dear  sir,  he  who  prays  without  meaning 
anything,  and  he  who  swears  without  meaning  anything,  are 
about  on  the  same  level." 

An  oath  is  not  always  an  indication  of  profanity,  nor  a 
prayer  of  sanctity.  Many  spirits  illustrate  their  condition  of 
earthly  life;  as  for  instance,  a  sailor,  or  some  one  who  is 
accustomed  to  rough  language,  by  reappearing  in  that  form  or 
guise. 

But  you  say:  "Sometimes  they  threaten."  The  threat  is 
not  carried  into  execution  ;  it  is  but  illustrative  of  the  state  by 
which  you  can  recognize  their  spiritual  condition  when  they 
passed  from  earth,  but  we  have  never  known  of  any  threat  or 
of  any  violence  to  be  carried  into  effect,  or  to  do  injury  to 
any  medium  or  any  individual  connected  with  them  ;  and  this, 
considering  the  various  human  conditions  that  surround  the 
medium,  is  a  most  remarkable  fact. 

Then  again  you  say  :  ' '  But  our  circles  have  often  been  dis- 
turbed, and  falsehoods  have  been  written ;  the  table  has 
rapped  them  out." 

That  may  be  true,  but  there  also  is  a  law  by  which  some 
condition  in  the  mortal  life  may  affect  these  communications. 
All  sitters,  and  all  mediums,  are  not  perfect,  and  even  if  the 
spirits  tell  you  that  which  is  not  true,  it  does  not  necessarily 
follow  that  they  intend  to  tell  you  a  falsehood. 

You  ask  any  dozen  individuals  a  question  similar  to  that 
which  people  are  accustomed  to  ask  the  spirits,  (assuming 
that  all  spirits  know  everything, )  and  these  dozen  people  will 
answer  you  in  a  dozen  different  ways,  and  you  do  not  neces- 
sarily think  they  have  told  you  a  falsehood  if  they  are  mis- 
taken. 

Spirits  are  limited  to  their  own  intelligence  in  the  answering 
of  questions.  If  you  go  to  your  father,  and  say:  "Father, 
shall  I  be  successful  in  this  business  enterprise '?"  He  says  : 
"  Well,  my  son,  I  don't  know,  but  I  think  so  and  so."  Now, 
that  thought  may  not  be  a  falsehood,  because  it  is  the  expres- 
sion of  his  conviction,  while  he  is  very  liable  to  be  mistaken. 
You  frequently  meet  people  in  daily  life  who  will  tell  you  pos- 
itively that  such  and   sxich  will  be  the  result  of  your  venture, 


17 

so  positive  is  their  conviction  of  it,  yet  they  are  mistaken. 
Spirits  are  liable  to  be  mistaken,  but  are  liable  to  be  honest  in 
their  mistake.  But  it  does  not  place  them  in  the  catalogue  of 
falsifiers.  If  spirits  who  are  accustomed  to  tell  untruths  pass 
into  spirit  life  and  return  again,  probably  the  same  thought 
or  the  same  condition  would  be  expressed  for  the  purpose  of 
acquainting  you  with  the  fact  that  they  take  their  own  condi- 
tion with  them.  But  such  spirits  are  not  liable  to  be  your 
guides,  and  are  only  permitted  to  come  and  illustrate  the  con- 
dition in  which  they  themselves  exist.  Perhaps,  also,  you 
may  be  a  source  of  benefit  to  them  ;  by  their  coming  in  con- 
tact with  earthly  states  that  are  above  them,  spiritually,  they 
break  the  chain  of  darkness  and  struggle  toward  the  light. 
We  do  not  know  a  single  Spiritualist  who  has  not  had  this 
experience.  Some  unfortunate  spirit  has  come  to  them,  re- 
vealing, perhaps,  vileness  or  profanity,  or  degradation  of 
every  kind,  and  at  last  has  thanked  the  Spiritualist  for  allow- 
ing them  to  come,  since  it  has  helped  them. 

Surely  there  is  nothing  to  fear  in  this,  for  if  you  are  truth- 
ful no  falsehood  of  the  spirit  can  affect  you  ;  and  if  you  are 
wise  enough  not  to  be  guided  in  material  affairs  bv  those  who 
are  in  spiritual  states  who  are  not  appointed  as  your  guides, 
you  will  avoid  many  of  the  difficulties  into  which  Spiritual- 
ists plunge  ;  for  straightway  when  the  knowledge  of  spiritual 
life  comes  to  man,  instead  of  seeking  it  for  spiritual  unfold- 
ment  and  benefit,  the  almost  universal  inquiry  is,  "  How  can 
we  utilize  this  to  become  wealthy  ?"  and  the  almost  universal 
result  of  failure  to  do  so,  proves  the  triumph  of  spiritual  con- 
ditions over  mortal.  For  if  you  could  summon  the  spirit 
world  to  do  your  work  for  vou,  or  to  aid  you  in  those  enter- 
prises  which  border,  at  least,  upon  injury  to  your  fellow-men, 
the  spiritual  quality  of  your  association  with  the  spirit  world 
would  be  such  that  you  could  by  no  means  rely  upon  that 
which  would  come  to  you  under  those  circumstances.  Seek  the 
knowledge  of  the  spiritual  part,  and  wisdom  and  love  flow  in 
upon  vou  proportionally  ;  but  seek  it  in  material  ways,  and  it 
must  still  be  on  the  border  of  the  shadow-land,  for  as  yet  the 
commercial  transactions  of  the  earth  are  not  in  strict  keeping 
with  the  Golden  Rule,  and  until  they  are,  you  could  not  invoke 
your  sainted  mother  to  aid  you  in  cheating  your  neighbors. 
(3) 


18 

This  is  the  realm,  therefore,  which  so  many  fear  and  yet  has 
no  potency  in  spirit  life  ;  this  shadow  which  so  many  dread, 
yet  which  is  powerless,  is  only  potent,  aggressive  and  power- 
ful in  this  world  ;  the  fear  and  dread  and  immorality  that 
lurks  in  your  own  natures,  are  made  positive  by  your  relation- 
ship to  material  life,  and  that  which  is  within  you  must  he 
your  greatest  foe  ;  not  that  which  is  without  you.  To  con- 
quer this  evil  one  must  conquer  pride,  and  selfishness,  and 
appetites  of  one's  own  ;  to  overcome  this,  one  must  overcome 
all  within  one's  self  that  makes  shadowy  the  life  which  is 
theirs.  There  is  no  foe  to  tight  outside  of  that  condition,  and 
in  the  realm  of  the  spirit  there  is  freedom,  and  love,  and  joy 
to  those  who  have  vanquished  not  only  the  state  of  fear,  hut 
the  state  of  selfishness. 

We  have  said  thus  much  concerning  the  spiritual  states 
near  the  earth,  because  we  perceive  the  tendency  to  a  sort  of 
dogma  that  must  impinge  upon  man's  moral  nature.  There 
is  no  positiveness  in  this  ;  the  spiritual  thought  hinges  upon 
the  goodness  of  God,  and  the  purity  of  the  soul  of  man,  and 
the  power  of  goodness  to  conquer  evil.  Without  this  you  are 
at  sea.  We,  therefore,  caution  you  against  placing  any  image 
up  to  worship  or  to  fear  that  will  stand  between  you  and  the 
clear,  pure  light  of  affection  in  your  own  souls. 

One  little  child  who  has  passed  from  your  fh'eside  to  the 
world  of  spirits  is  more  potent  to  influence  your  lives  than  all 
the  demons  that  have  passed  from  earth.  One  sainted  friend, 
wife,  husband,  sister,  mother,  or  father,  to  whom  the  ties  of 
affection  still  bind  you  in  thought  and  feeling,  has  more  force 
and  influence  of  a  positive  kind  to  govern  your  lives  than  all 
the  imps  of  Hades  ;  for  by  the  law  of  love  their  positive  inter- 
est in  you  overcomes  the  shadows,  and  they  cannot  enter  or 
come  near.  Just  as  in  the  midst  of  violence  we  have  known  a 
child  to  quell  the  tempest  of  human  passion,  so  in  the  midst 
of  your  shadows,  and  sorrows,  and  cares  of  earth,  the  pres- 
ence of  those  sweet  children  gives  a  halo  of  light  around  you. 
To  love  those  who  are  your  guardians,  to  call  upon  those  who 
are  your  counsellors  and  friends  in  spirit  life,  is  in  the  Unite 
sense  what  the  infinite  is  to  the  whole  universe— a  light,  and 
radiance,  and  splendor,  vocal  with  immortal  songs  and  praises 


19 

No  one   need   fear  in  passing   out    into   the  darkness  of    the 

world  if  sheltered  around  with  these  guarding  lights  ;  none 
need  fear,  if  trusting  the  higher  powers,  that  they  will  for- 
sake. It  is  only  the  half-trusting,  only  the  fearful,  only 
those  that  are  in  the  shadow  of  darkness,  whom  misfortune 
overtakes  in  that  direction. 

The  whole  Soul  trusts  the  whole  Love  of  the  Universe,  and 
the  spiritual  affection  trusts  the  affection  that  is  just  beyond, 
knowing  in  its  light,  guidance,  and  wisdom,  and  power,  thai 
all  spiritual  needs  will  be  answered  and  all  hearts  uplifted. 
But  for  this  you  might  well  turn  a  listening  ear  to  the  cry  of 
the  theologian,  who  says  :  "  Why,  there  are  millions  of  evil 
spirits  let  loose  upon  humanity,  and  drawing  them  down  to 
darkness."  I  beg  pardon,  Mr.  Theologian  ;  there  are  thou- 
sands of  millions  of  good  spirits  also  let  loose,  and  the  pov\  er 
of  good,  I  know,  is  greater  than  the  power  of  evil,  and  man 
can  trust  it. 

Here  you  are,  gathered  together  in  this  room.  You  are  not 
afraid  of  one  another  ;  the  law  of  humanity  and  the  ameni- 
ties of  life  bind  you  together  in  one  society,  without  the  aid 
of  the  strong  hand  of  the  law.  You  have  no  intention  of 
doing  violence  to  one  another,  or  to  any  human  being.  The 
average  human  life  is  higher  than  the  level  of  crime,  and 
therefore  when  spirits  enter  spiritual  life  the  average  is  above 
the  shadow  level  instead  of  below  it,  and  therefore  the  power 
of  the  good  that  is  there  must  be  infinitely  greater  t.han  the 
power  of  evil ;  for  even  those  wdio  have  passed  away  from 
earth  life  in  evil  conditions,  have  been  still  gradually  im- 
proved by  slow  degrees,  and  gradually  drawing  nearer  to  the 
light,  while  those  who  passed  away  from  earth  life  in  condi- 
tions of  goodness,  have  certainly  now  reached  a  state  that  is 
almost  saint-like  in  their  splendor  and  brightness. 

So,  while  good  is  forever  augmenting,  evils  are  everywhere 
lessening,  and  the  earth  is  gradually  being  uplifted  by  this 
strong  light  from  the  realms  of  the  spirit  that  penetrates  the 
darkness  here  as  well  as  the  darkness  of  the  other  world. 

The  individual  state  is  more  a  subject  to  be  considered  and 
commiserated  than  the  aggregate  power  of  evil  ;  for  the  indi- 
vidual criminal,  the   individual   sinner,    those  individuals  in 


20 

darkness,  and  especially  the.  individual  selfishness,  results  in 
much  misery.  Gehenna  is  within,  and  as  that  cannot  be 
righted  at  once,  because  it  is  not  powerful,  so  it  may  be  with- 
in as  a  consuming  fire,  an  unquenchable  flame,  which  cannot 
possibly  cease  until  it  has  burned  the  dross  away  within  the 
heart.  For  this  state  there  is  everything  that  deserves  com- 
passion, and  deserves  the  sympathy  and  pity  of  those  who  are 
beyond  it.  But  certainly  you  cannot  fear — the  poor  drunk- 
ard, inebriated  on  the  street,  is  as  potent  to  do  you  harm  as 
a  spirit  intoxicated  by  its  own  misdeeds  and  selfishness  on 
earth.  You  pick  him  up,  or  despise  him  may  be,  but  you  do 
not  fear  him. 

The  Divine  affection  of  spirit  life  and  of  angelic  existence 
looks  upon  the  shadow-land  of  the  abject  criminal  and  the 
abjectly  selfish  in  the  same  way.  The  philanthropist  looks 
upon  the  victim  of  earthly  appetites  with  divine  compassion, 
or  as  the  Master  looked  upon  those  who  were  condemned  and 
censured  of  men — "  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee  ;  go,  and  sin 
no  more."  What  had  He  to  fear  from  their  condition?  How 
could  the  publicans  and  sinners  harm  Him  who  had  a  mes- 
sage of  life  to  give,  and  they  in  the  shadows  of  death  ? 

So  ye  who  have  a  message  of  life,  give  that  message  to  man, 
woman,  child  or  spirit,  but  do  not  fear  that  their  shadow  will 
come  up  to  engulf  you;  for  the  voice  that  is  within  you  and 
the  truth  that  you  express,  if  it  be  in  earnest,  is  so  potent  and 
powerful  that  it  not  only  can  conquer  death,  but  swallow 
Hades,  Gehenna,  and  all  the  darkness  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  shine  in  upon  those  who  are  immured  in  the  shadows  of 
their  own  creation,  as  the  light  let  in  by  a  loving  hand  can 
illumine  the  dungeon  cell  and  set  the  captive  free. 


21 


Homes  and  Associations 
In  Spirit  I4fe. 


The  ideal  home  of  earth  is  the  ideal  centre  of  human  hap- 
piness and  civilization  ;  that  which  forms  the  basis  of  all 
associative  life,  and  elevates  humanity  at  once  from  the 
standard  of  materiality  to  the  realm  of  spiritual  and  moral  ex- 
istence. 

As  the  home  is  the  centre  of  human  society,  so  is  affection 
the  centre  of  the  home  ;  and  this,  whether  it  be  in  palace  or 
cottage,  whether  it  be  in  the  midst  of  crowded  cities,  or  far 
out  upon  the  plains,  or  in  the  wilderness,  is  the  basis  of  all  hu- 
man civilization.  The  nomadic  tribes  of  the  earth,  "wandering- 
hither  and  thither  in  pursuit  of  game  or  shelter,  can  of  course, 
owing-  to  their  earthly  conditions  of  dependence,  have  no  real 
home. 

Locality  seems  to  be  as  essential  to  the  actual  home  of  earth 
as  affection  is  to  its  more  spiritual  quality.  The  reason  of  this 
is  evident.  Marauding-  and  wandering  peoples  cannot  possi- 
bly cultivate  the  affections  to  the  degree  of  permanence.  The 
Tartaric  tribes  that  have  descended  all  over  the  Orient,  devas- 
tating the  ancient  civilization  of  the  earth,  brought  with  them 
that  lack  of  centralizing  power  of  civilization — the  home. 

The  reason  that  Mohammedanism  has  desolated  the  na- 
tions over  which  it  has  spread,  is  not  because  the  kingdom  of 
Allah  or  the  worship  of  the  Mohammedan  is  less  exalted,  but 
because  there  is  no  home. 

That  centre  and  basis  of  all  life  is  absent  where  polygamy 
abounds,  and  the  home-life  must  be  robbed  of  its  sweetness 
wherever  that  devastation  spreads.  Consecpaently  the  kings 
of  Israel,  elevated  to  pomp  and  power  by  the  greatness  of 
their  ambition,  could  not  perpetuate  the  estate  'of  the  true 
Church  upon  earth  because  of  the  centralizing  power  of  riches 
instead  of  affection  ;  of  worldly  power  and  pride  instead  of  the 
exaltation  of  the  spirit. 

To  one   who  contemplates   the   Kingdom  of   Heaven  as  a 
(4) 


22 

kingdom  without  a  home,  there  can  be  but  little  save  desola- 
tion and  loneliness  ;  and  that  creed  or  religion  that  declares  it 
possible  for  man  to  be  happy  while  his  fellow-beings  and  the 
brothers  of  his  own  household  may  be  writhing  in  misery,  de- 
clares a  monstrosity  such  as  no  kingdom,  nation  or  class  of 
people  can  believe  without  degradation. 

Therefore  when  a  prominent  divine  said  that  the  soul  is 
destined  to  pass  through  eternity  alone  in  the  sight  of  God, 
he  declared  that  which,  were  it  true,  would  rob  Heaven  of  its 
glory  and  eternity  of  its  happiness. 

As  we  have  stated,  the  ideal  home  is  the  centre  of  earthly 
life.      "What  is  the  ideal  ? 

One  cannot  picture  a  palace  without  some  time  entering 
there  and  finding  misery  and  darkness.  One  cannot  picture 
a  cottage  without  some  time  finding  want,  and  penury,  and 
woe.  But  somewhere  upon  the  earth,  and  somewhere  in  the 
secluded  and  sequestered  regions  of  memory,  your  thought  of 
childhood  goes  back  to  the  real  home.  It  is  not  the  walls  nor 
pictures  hanging  thereon,  nor  the  frescoed  ceiling,  nor  the 
carved  images  in. the  niche,  nor  the  marble  tessellated  floor, 
but  it  is  the  centre  from  which  the  mother's  eye  gleamed  out 
with  affection  ;  from  which  the  father's  benign  countenance, 
full  of  wisdom  and  full  of  love,  shines  with  reverent  air  ;  and 
clustering  like  flowers  around  a  central  group  in  the  garden, 
you  meet  your  brothers  and  sisters,  and  unite  again  in  child- 
ish sports  and  joy,  and  receive  the  benediction  and  blessings 
of  home. 

No  food  so  sweet  as  that  which  the  mother's  hand  pre- 
pares ;  no  place  so  lordly  as  that  which  the  father  provided 
for  his  children  ;  no  blossoms  of  the  garden  so  fragrant  as  the 
thyme,  and  the  rose,  and  the  lilac  which  the  mother's  hand 
hath  planted. 

This  is  the  ideal  image  which  remains  with  you  through 
youth  and  manhood.  It  goes  to  college  hall  or  place  of  busi- 
ness, and  to  preserve  that  memory  sacred  the  whole  of  civili- 
zation would  rise  up  in  arms  of  defense.  For  this  image  kings, 
princes,  potentates  have  been  robbed  of  their  power,  falsely 
earned,  that  you  might  keep  alive  this  picture. 

Death    is  greater  than    kings,    mightier   than    warriors, 


23 

stronger  than  the  priestly  hand.  No  papal  power  shall  be 
able  to  pronounce  judgment  against  Death,  and  no  march  of 
civilization,  however  great  and  powerful,  can  ward  oil' the  Si- 
lent Messenger.  But  Death  has  no  power  over  that  picture  ; 
that  living  image  is  still  preserved,  and  transferred  from  the 
changefulness  of  time,  from  the  decay  of  creaking  timbers  and 
mouldering  walls,  to  the  world  of  spirits,  and  perpetuated 
there. 

On  earth  the  mother  sits  sometimes  alone,  with  her  dar- 
lings far  away,  as  the  eagle  might  sit  in  the  deserted  nest.  One 
is  far  out  upon  the  ocean,  one  is  in  distant  lands  seeking  for 
wealth,  another  is  in  legislative  halls  in  pursuit  of  fame  or  the 
country's  weal,  another  is  in  the  busy  mart  pursuing  the  god 
of  gain,  and  another,  alas  !  may  be  in  some  shadow  of  sin 
or  shame.  But  her  heart  holds  the  little  group  as  faithfully 
as  when  they  clambered  around  her  knee. 

In  the  life  of  the  spirit,  these  wandering  ones  are  gath- 
ered together.  There  can  be  no  separation  by  distant  lands 
or  continents,  and  that  love  that  can  bridge  over  the  space  be- 
tween her  heart  and  the  dungeon  cell,  can  bring  her  wander- 
ing children  back  to  the  threshold  of  home. 

Doubt  it  not,  or  you  must  doubt  that  light  and  love  and 
truth  are  endless.  If  home  is  destroyed  on  earth  in  its  physi- 
cal aspect  by  time  or  change  ;  if  ruinous  armies  and  the  deso- 
lation of  want  and  poverty  wage  aggressive  warfare  over  its 
fair  domain — in  the  life  of  the  spirit  there  is  no  such  desola- 
tion. There  can  be  only  one  war,  and  that  is  hatred,  that  can 
destroy  the  home  of  the  spirit.  There  can  be  only  one  de- 
praved condition,  and  that  is  selfishness,  that  can  destroy  its 
fair  and  wondrous  harmony.  And  in  the  light  of  the  spirit, 
where  you  see  as  you  are  seen,  and  know  as  you  are  known  ; 
where  you  no  longer  gaze  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  face  to 
face,  the  diviner  affections  spring  to  the  rescue,  and  the  self- 
ishness that  encompasses  you  here,  and  robs  you  oftentimes  of 
the  sweetest  flower  of  love,  there  is  obliterated  in  the  rarer 
light  of  the  spiritual  kingdom.  In  spirit  life  those  who  are 
inviolably  separated  by  lack  of  sympathy  do  not  meet  in  the 
household  ;  but  many  meet  who  are  disconnected  here,  whose 
lines  of  life  there  are  made  beautiful  by  the  added  light  of  the 
spirit. 


24 

Think  what  death  does  to  you  here.  The  memory  of  the 
departed  becomes  sacred  ;  all  their  faults  sink  into  the  light  of 
the  Eternal  presence,  and  you  remember  at  last  only  their 
virtues. 

In  the  light  of  the  spiritual  kingdom,  those  who  are  di- 
vided here  come  ashamed  into  their  Father's  dwelling,  reunit- 
ing the  ties  of  old.  Those  who  have  been  separated  by  foolish 
pride,  ambition  or  anger,  see  face  to  face,  and  no  longer 
through  a  glass  darkly,  and  enter  again  the  kingdom  of  love. 
And  many  between  whom  the  wall  of  suspicion  and  disaffec- 
tion has  imperceptibly  risen,  awaken  to  find  themselves  mis- 
taken ;  that  it  was  only  the  outward  man  or  woman  that  di- 
vided them,  while  in  the  realm  of  the  spirit  all  is  made  plain. 

Most  differences  inhuman  life  are  the  result  of  misunder- 
standing ;  most  quarrels  are  the  result  of  blindness.  When  the 
real  heaven  is  opened  you  cannot  misjudge  one  another  ;  you 
leap  this  wall  of  seeming  difficulty  and  seeming  offense  ;  it 
fades  away,  or  if  you  are  abjectly  selfish,  it  only  turns  upon 
yourself. 

What  we  wish  to  exalt  in  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit  is  the 
ideal  home.  What  we  wish  to  make  palpable  is  the  reality  of 
affection  instead  of  discord  and  hatred  ;  and  what  we  wish  to 
make  apparent  to  every  heart  is,  that  there  cannot  exist  in  the 
spiritual  world  a  home  without  affection  ;  there  cannot  exist 
affection  without  that  overmantling  charity  which  overlooks 
the  evil  in  the  light  of  the  love  that  sees  it. 

If  this  were  the  case  on  earth,  how  many  discordant  house- 
holds would  be  hushed  to  a  calm  by  the  benign  presence  of 
this  spirit  of  love  ;  and  how  truly  typical  would  the  earthly 
home  become  of  that  centre  in  spirit  life. 

Now,  when  you  speak  of  place  does  it  not  sink  into  insig- 
nificance before  the  light  of  this  supreme  state  which  we  have 
pictured  '?  If  the  mother  in  spirit  life  still  has  children  upon 
earth,  she  cannot  dwell  in  a  place  that  will  separate  her  equally 
from  all  her  children.  One  may  be  on  the  sea,  another  on  the 
desert  ;  thousands  of  miles  intervene  between  them,  but  her 
love  is  equally  present  with  all,  and  the  centre  of  her  love  is 
the  home  of  the  spirit.  To  go  to  home  and  mother  is  to  go  to 
the  love  of  the  mother's  heart  :  to  go  to  the  household  in  spirit 


25 

life  is  to  take  off  the  film  of  outside  being,  and  find  them  with 
you  all  the  while.  Their  love  is  their  home  ;  their  affection  is 
the  charmed  stronghold,  be  it  here  on  earth,  or  he  it  in  the 
distant  spaces.  It  is  the  state  that  makes  the  happiness,  and 
the  condition  that  makes  the  association. 

If,  however,  any  particular  form  of  home-life  is  more  ac- 
ceptable to  you  than  another  ;  if  any  sacred  memories  cluster 
around  place  or  time  or  condition  here,  then  that  form  will 
weave  itself  into  the  spiritual  habitation,  and  you  will  have  it 
again,  or  as  long  as  it  is  more  sacred  to  you  than  any  other 
form  of  expression.  If  you  love  in  that  expression  of  home- 
life  some  avenue  of  trees,  or  walls  that  seem  sacred  to  you  by 
association,  you  will  find  them  reproduced  in  your  kingdom 
of  the  spirit,  so  long  as  that  form  best  expresses  your  highest 
ideal. 

But  often  the  state  that  overshadows  the  whole  will  usurp 
the  thought  of  form  and  surroundings,  and  in  the  absorbing 
light  of  the  loved  ones'  eyes,  in  the  glory  of  their  presence,  in  the 
thoughts  that  flow  to  and  fro,  there  will  be  such  forgetfulness 
of  form  and  time  that  you  will  not  miss  the  waving  branches 
of  the  elm  tree,  nor  the  walls  that  creaked  in  response  to  the 
winds  of  winter,  but  only  remember,  that  in  the  Father's  dwel- 
ling there  is  no  more  parting  nor  absence,  no  more  change  and 
death. 

This  comes  to  those  who  love  and  to  those  who  are  be- 
loved. But  what  of  the  thousands  of  wandering  waifs  ?  What 
of  the  populous  crowds  that  go  out  unloved  and  loveless  from 
the  world  V  What  of  the  denizens  of  the  haunts  of  crime,  and 
lives  who  know  not  the  sound  of  the  mother's  voice,  nor  the 
sweet,  pleasant  places  of  home-life  on  earth  ?  But  remember, 
these  have  been  beloved.  Some  darling,  was  every  child  of 
sin  that  walks  the  earth,  and  somewhere  in  the  heavenly  or 
earthly  state  there  is  still  a  light  of  love  that  links  them  unto 
loving  ones. 

But  it  is  the  worst  condition  of  life  where  loveless  children 
come  into  being,  and  are  hurried  out  into  the  world  of  souls 
by  the  hand  of  violence  or  crime.  Even  these  do  not  enter 
the  condition  of  spirit  life  conscious  of  being  deserted.  Smi- 
ling faces  and  loving  eyes  are  ready  to  receive  them  ;  hearts 
(5) 


26 

appointed  to  watch  over  and  guard  them;  mothers  souls 
whose  own  lives  are  filled  with  consciousness  of  loving  light — 
these  are  appointed  to  take  charge  of  them,  and  from  the  time 
they  leave  the  earth,  children  are  not  aware  of  being  orphans. 
It  is  only  in  your  secure  and  safely  guarded  homes  the  children 
point  to  others  on  the  street  wearing  the  badge  of  orphanage. 
Tis  only  in  Christian  lands  on  earth  that  proud  millionaires 
can  revel  in  palaces  of  luxury,  and  pay  their  way  into  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  through  orphan  asylums.  It  is  only  in 
the  midst  of  selfishness,  of  pomp,  and  pride,  which  makes 
homeless  the  walls  inhabited  by  the  proud  and  great  of  earth, 
and  makes  orphans  of  those  who  have  not  wealth,  and  do  not 
know  the  meaning  of  love. 

The  city  of  London  became  aware  that  the  orphan  asy- 
lums were  in  need  of  some  element  which  they  did  not  receive. 
A  lady  of  rank  and  gentle  disposition  was  appointed  to  find 
out  what  was  the  matter  with  the  orphan  asylums — why  the 
children  did  not  thrive.  She  approached  a  little  girl  three 
years  old,  and  said  :  "My  dear,  will  you  kiss  me?"  The 
child  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  the  word  ;  she  had  never 
received  a  kiss.  Straightway  the  lady  came  to  the  council  and 
said  :  "  Your  children  need  mothers,  not  simply  food,  cloth- 
ing, and  shelter  ;  they  need  to  be  loved."  And  the  great  se- 
cret of  municipal  charity  and  endowed  institutions  is  that  they 
need  mothers  ;  they  need  love,  and  something  that  shall  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  labored  mechanism  of  a  superficial 
charity. 

In  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit  no  waif  is  thus  neglected, 
nor  thrust  into  an  endowed  institution  to  be  fed  and  clothed, 
that  others  may  live  at  their  ease  without  the  trouble  and  the 
responsibility  of  life. 

Perhaps  you  may  say  that  these  institutions  are  better 
than  starvation.  But  Jesus  said:  "  Whether  it  is  better  to 
clothe  the  body  and  starve  the  spirit."  Certainly  of  the  two, 
the  child  that  may  win  a  smile  from  the  stranger,  or  a  tender 
glance  from  the  mother's  heart  while  seeking  for  alms  upon 
the  street,  may  see  more  of  human  kindness  than  the 
orphan  herded  with  others  in  an  asylum  under  the  dominion 
of  charity  without  love.     See  to  it,  therefore,  if   the  kingdom 


27 

of  spiritual  life  is  to  come  on  earth  as  it  is  in  the  spiritual 
state,  that  you  have  none  who  can  feel  that  they  arc  orphans. 

We  have  known  children  to  be  adopted  into  one  house- 
hold with  others  who  knew  no  line  between  their  own  lives 
and  those  who  are  born  to  the  household.  We  have  known 
others  to  be  adopted  who  were  all  the  time  made  to  feel  that 
they  were  orphans,  dependent  upon  the  niggardly  charity  (so 
miscalled)  of  those  who  sheltered  them. 

The  spiritual  world  is  a  world  for  love  ;  all  spirits  are 
cared  for;  and  if  your  child  passing  out  from  your  home  is 
thus  tenderly  guarded,  watched  over  by  angel  mothers,  does 
it  not  behoove  you  to  see  to  it,  ye  mothers  of  earth  who  weep 
useless  tears  because  your  darlings  are  dead,  that  you  minister 
to  some  child  here  whose  mother  is  also  there  ?  Does  it  not 
behoove  you,  instead  of  throwing  upon  the  soil  the  bitter  salt 
tears  of  selfish  grief,  that  you  find  comfort  in  assuaging  the 
pam  that  is  all  around  you,  and  lead  some  child  into  the  spirit 
chambers  of  love,  that  elsewise  would  be  neglected  ?  Try  this 
balm,  which  is  the  best  solace  for  grief  that  I  have  known,  for 
it  brings  to  human  hearthstones  the  light  of  an  added  joy, 
since  it  invites  the  presence  of  your  spirit  children,  wdien  you, 
through  love,  have  other  children  near. 

The  laws  of  human  association  are,  upon  the  surface,  the 
laws  of  necessity.  Herded  for  common  protection  against 
the  elements,  the  material  side  of  life  erects  for  commerce, 
warehouses,  and  cities  for  convenience  ;  governments,  for  the 
protection  of  life  and  property,  enact  a  system  of  laws.  If  this 
were  all,  the  mechanism  of  human  government  could  very  soon 
be  provided  for,  for  its  own  well  being  can  be  easily  attained 
to  ;  and  sanitary  measures,  wdiere  pride  and  ambition  and  self- 
ishness do  not  come  in,  can  be  readily  adjusted.  But  it  is  the 
great  moral  force  of  association  that  longs  for  the  highest  and 
best  expression,  and  will  not  have  it  that  there  shall  be  a 
depraved  class  and  an  exalted  class;  will  not  have  it  that  in  the 
end  there  shall  be  distinction  between  man  and  man,  and  this 
is  why  governments  are  never  stable;  this  is  why  your  associ- 
ations are  all  the  time  in  such  agitation.  But  let  the  law  of 
love  prevail,  let  it  be  impossible  to  have  homes,  or  cities,  or 
governments,  without  love  and  justice,  and  the  whole  realm 


28 

changes.  As  the  master  hand  from  the  dominant  note  carries 
forward  the  grand  chain  of  harmony,  so  the  key  note  of  the 
soiil  is  love,  which  is  harmony. 

The  spiritual  states  form  themselves  and  are  adjusted  to 
that  which  is  central.  No  one  can  be  a  slave  save  the  supremely 
selfish  man;  no  one  can  be  an  orphan  who  is  not  from  his  own 
nature  orphaned  of  love;  and  what  you  give  unto  others  in 
spiritual  states,  that  is  your  priceless  inheritance,  while  that 
which  you  seek  to  clutch  with  selfish  hand  passes  away  like  the 
sands  upon  the  sea-shore,  and  is  not  of  your  possession. 

Associations,  therefore,  are  governed  in  spiritual  life  by 
the  infallible  law  of  love  and  justice,  and  mutual  dependence; 
and  none  can  hoard  up  treasures,  since  the  nature  of  the  spirit- 
ual association  is  such,  that  if  you  seek  to  hoard  it,  it  fades 
from  you.  As  no  one  can  take  a  bottleful  of  sunshine  and  go 
away  into  a  closet  and  enjoy  it  by  himself,  but  must  come  into 
the  light  where  all  others  can  come  freely,  so  in  that  which 
enriches  and  benefits  the  spirit,  no  one  can  possess  it  selfishly. 
He  who  attempts  to  do  so  robs  himself  of  his  own  possession 
and  no  longer  has  an  inheritance. 

Societies  for  the  benefit  of  one  another,  those  who  convene 
in  assemblages  to  devise  uses  for  the  welfare  of  man  —these 
form  the  government  of  spiritual  existence.  No  landed  estates 
shall  monopolize,  no  suborning  of  press,  nothing  that  wrests 
from  the  conciousness  its  divine  right  to  rule;  but  only  the 
law  of  the  spirit,  and  that  wisdom  that  the  spirit  is  able  to 
perceive — wise  and  just,  and  good, — can  devise  measures  of 
spiritual  government. 

There  is  no  governing  power  in  hatred,  no  governing 
power  in  that  which  is  selfish,  no  governing  power  in  that 
which  would  build  up  for  one's  self  the  treasures  of  the 
heavenly  kingdon — they  are  but  shadows  in  the  light  of  that 
Eternal  presence  that  beams  upon  the  spirit. 

In  regard  to  the  occupations  of  spirit  life;  why,  in  the 
realm  of  thought  all  occupation  dwells!  The  mechanic,  the 
inventor,  the  musician,  the  poet,  and  the  painter,  each  must 
have  his  occupation  from  the  realm  of  thought;  and  in  the 
spirit  world  associations  of  those  whose  pursuits  and  tastes  are 
similar  must  be  formed  upon  the  basis  of  attraction. 


29 

The  grand  Brotherhood  of  Art  arrays  itself  in  sublime 
splendor  before  the  vision  of  the  seer,  and  the  pictures  of  the 
future  are  to  be  traced  from  their  inspirations.  The  grand 
Brotherhood  of  Music  made  harmonious  by  chastisement,  and 
pain  and  suffering-,  rises  into  the  realm  of  harmony  by  the 
grandeur  of  thought  and  feeling  there.  And  if  on  Earth  the 
music  of  Wagner  is  the  new  era  in  music,  so  in  the  spheres  of 
harmony  to  which  he  has  risen,  he  stands  the  leader  of  the 
grand  company  whose  thoughts  breathe  harmony  for  the  world, 
and  he  drinks  in  the  splendor  of  the  spheres  of  Music  from  the 
hopes  and  aspirations  for  humanity. 

Poets  congregated  in  the  divine  Brotherhood  of  Poesy  by 
no  mere  arbitrary  law  of  external  life,  but  by  the  grander  com- 
panionship  that  sees  in  everything  the  written  rythm  of  God's 
hand,  and  traces  not  in  words,  but  in  human  lives,  the  poems 
of  love  and  clivinest  charity. 

The  statesmen  brooding  over  the  lands  that  are  now  des- 
olated with  crime  and  bloodshed,  look  forward  to  the  better 
day  of  human  arbitration  and  the  adjudication  of  all  difficul- 
ties by  the  mandates  of  reason,  and  giving  inspiration  to 
those  who  are  beneath  them,  make  a  Victor  Hugo  a  prophet, 
that  may  speak  to  the  nations  for  the  peace  that  shall  come  by 
and  by.  They  who  teach  on  earth  and  are  themselves  teach- 
able of  higher  angels,  become  the  instruments  in  spirit  life  of 
ministering  to  those  beneath  them;  and  vast  plains  of  thought 
that  never  rise  above  the  level  of  dull  monotony  of  earth,  are 
breathed  upon  by  these  inspiring  presences  in  higher  states, 
and  made  aware  of  grander  aspirations  and  loftier  powers. 

Spirits,  not  kingdoms;  ideas,  not  gold  and  silver;  truths, 
not  jewels  and  precious  stones — these  are  the  treasures  that 
the  soul  must  seek;  and  from  the  blank  barrenness  of  human 
life  and  from  its  dreary  treadmill  of  care,  he  who  fulfills  his 
duty  here,  loves  most,  performs  most  the  sacred  offices  of  the 
hour,  and  sanctifies  the  bare  and  barren  realm  of  material  ex- 
istence with  the  light  of  the  spirit,  he  finds  his  treasures  in 
heaven  and  his  associations  with  kindred  souls  whose  aspira- 
tions are  like  his  own. 

Gazing  out  upon  society  with  material  vision,  there  seems 
to  be  a  seething  caldron  of  selfishness,  and  he  comes  upper- 
(6) 


30 

most  who  is  greatest  in  pride,  and  he  is  sunk  beneath  the 
waves  who  is  poor  and  humble.  Not  so  in  the  light  of  the 
spirit. 

Even  the  earthly  states  are  adjusted  by  this  divine  law 
interpenetrating  from  the  spheres  and  associations  of  match- 
less life  above  you.  Even  yon  feel  the  droppings  from  that 
celestial  urn  that  turns  out  the  waters  of  life  for  the  future  of 
your  earth;  and  the  future  of  your  spiritual  lives  is  already 
mirrored  in  your  aspirations,  your  hopes,  your  prophecies  and 
your  fulfillments  here. 


31 


Exceptional  Cases 
illustrative  of  Extreme  Ignorance,  Depraviti], 


AND  — 


Extreme  Progress  in  Spirit  Eife, 


The  occuiTences  which  will  now  be  related  have  come 
under  the  observation  of  the  one  who  is  addressing  you,  and 
are,  therefore,  literal  experiences.  In  proof  that  the  spirit 
world  is  what  we  make  it  and  that  you  take  with  you  your 
moral  condition,  I  wish  to  give  an  instance  of  one  individual, 
who,  not  believing  in  the  law  of  progress  on  earth,  considered 
that  the  world  does  not  improve.  He  had  no  knowledge  of 
science,  no  knowledge  of  religion  othert  han  that  ancient 
bigotry  which  relegated  souls  to  one  condition  or  the  other 
of  extreme  happiness  or  extreme  misery. 

He  lived  fifty  miles  from  Boston,  in  Massachusetts.  He 
had  not  seen  railways  nor  telegraphs,  nor  other  modern 
improvements  ;  did  not  believe  in  them,  and  believed  that  all 
who  told  him  that  there  were  such  things  in  existence  were  in 
league  with  Satan  ;  that  no  such  ideas  could  possibly  have  an 
existence  in  literal  form  on  earth.  This  old  man  would  not 
take  the  trouble  to  go  twenty  or  thirty  miles  from  his  own 
place  to  prove  the  reality  of  the  improvements  in  the  world. 

He  passed  from  earthly  life,  having  only  one  affection 
remaining  on  earth,  and  that  was  an  only  son  who  had  gone 
out  from  his  paternal  dwelling  and  taken  up  his  abode  in  the 
Far  West.  Not  being  able  to  read  or  write,  the  old  man  had 
only  heard  of  him  through  the  kind  offices  of  neighbors  or 
friends  who  might  have  heard  something  of  his  doings  in  the 
west.  The  great  desire  of  his  heart  befure  leaving  the  earthly 
life,  was  to  see  his  son;  and  when  the  final  dissolution  came,  he 
did  not  know  that  he  was  passing  away  from  earth,  but  sup- 
posing himself  still  in  the  physical  form,  he  carried  out  the 


32 

intention  that  he  previously  had,  to  walk  all  the  way  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  visit  his  son. 

Of  course,  being  freed  from  the  physical  body,  his  spirit 
felt  the  strongest  attraction  that  there  was  in  the  man,  and  his 
spirit  took  up  the  line  of  march  all  the  way  from  New  Eng- 
land to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  plodding  away  day  by  day, 
walking1  the  entire  distance  because  he  did  not  know  anv  other 
method  of  going.  Not  believing  in  steam  nor  comprehending 
the  power  of  electricity,  how  could  he  know  the  greater  power 
of  the  human  thought '? 

Inquiring  of  those  whom  he  met  (earth-bound  spirits  like 
himself)  the  distance  and  the  better  way  to  go,  he  readily 
found  his  way  to  the  wilds  where  his  son  was  dwelling. 

When  he  arrived  there  his  first  thought  was,  of 'course,  of 
the  recognition  that  should  greet  him  ;  to  his  amazement  his 
son  made  no  response.  The  old  man  embraced  him;  there  was 
no  answer,  and  to  all  of  the  pleading  of  his  voice  there  came 
no  sign  of  rejoicing.  For  the  first  time  did  that  man  know 
that  he  was  a  spirit  and  his  son  still  in  mortal  life.  For  the 
first  time  was  he  brought  in  contact  with  the  fact  that  he  had 
not  the  same  physical  form  that  he  once  occupied.;  and  of 
course  with  that  came  the  first  step  toward  enlightenment.  The 
son,  all  unconscious  of  doing  his  father  any  wrong,  might, 
perhaps,  have  thought  of  him  during  the  time  that  the  spirit 
father  was  so  desirous  of  speaking  to  him;  may  have  sent  a 
message  to  the  old  man,  still  believing  him  in  earthly  life,  but 
for  the  spirit  father  there  was  no  recogition  since  he  oould  not 
make  him  conscious,  spiritually,  of  his  presence,  and  there 
was  no  physical  bond  now  between  them.     This  is  one  fact. 

All  human  beings,  according  to  their  spiritual  growth, 
therefore,  are  either  amazed,  perplexed,  bewildered,  or  rejoice 
when  the  enfranchisement  of  death  finds  them  in  spiritual 
condition  to  comprehend  its  meaning  ;  but  all  are  fettered  as 
was  this  old  man  by  some  limitation  or  lack  while  in  material 
life,  and  it  behooves  those  who  are  inclined  to  pursue  spirit- 
ual knowledge,  to  see  to  it  that  the  measurement  of  spirit  is 
not  too  literal  and  by  earthly  standards;  for  you  will  find  your- 
self, like  this  poor  old  man,  limited  to  your  comprehension 
when  you  pass  into  spirit  life  ;  for  to  space,  time  and  eternity 


33 

there  can  be  no  limit,  only  what  you  apply  to  them  ;  therefore 
we  give  this  illustration. 

Another  and  exactly  opposite  instance  is  a  case  of  one 
whose  life  was  fully  illumined  while  here  with  the  conscious- 
ness of  sjoiritual  existence;  who  was  not  only  aware  that  mat- 
ter possesses  properties  which  the  human  senses  can  detect, 
but  also,  that  spirit  possesses  attributes  independently  of 
matter,  superior  to  material  law,  not  governed  by  the  condi- 
tions of  distance,  time  or  space.  We  know  of  an  instance 
where,  during  the  earthly  existence,  a  friend  was  devloped  to 
the  degree,  not  only  of  perceiving  clairvoyantly  material  ob- 
jects in  their  interior  working,  but  also,  of  perceiving  spirit- 
ual principles,  and  spirits  passing  to  and  fro  upon  the  earth 
without  the  aid  of  the  material  body;  became  familiar  with 
distant  cities,  visited  distant  lands  and  so  absorbed  the  gene- 
ral knowledge  of  the  structure  and  inhabitants  of  the  earth  v 
that  material  travel  was  unnecssary. 

Not  only  was  this  true,  but  by  spiritual  power  this  person 
that  we  speak  of  became  possessed  of  knowledge,  not  by 
reading  of  books,  but  when  a  new  work  was  published  the 
substance  of  it  was  known  to  this  man  by  spiritual  impression; 
the  substance  of  the  thought  that  was  in  the  world,  even  the 
most  advanced  thought  of  science  was  likewise  perceived,  and 
the  other  world  was  a  palpable  existence. 

The  spirit  of  that  individual  of  whom  we  speak  had  often 
passed  into  spirit  life  and  seen  it;  had  become  aware  of  the 
nature  of  spiritual  existence,  of  the  possession  of  spiritual 
attributes,  and  held  converse  and  communion  with  disembod- 
ied spirits  as  freely,  or  even  more  so  than  with  mortals. 

The  result  was,  that  when  the  change  called  death  came, 
he  was  aware  of  the  first  pulsation  of  the  change,  as  one  stand- 
ing upon  the  beach  might  be  aware  of  the  slowly  receding  line 
when  the  tide  begins  to  ebb. 

The  spirit,  o'ermasterful  and  tilled  with  consciousness, 
traced  the  gradual  ebbing  of  the  physical  life  ;  traced  the  si- 
lent departure  of  breath  and  pulsation  from  the  body  as  one 
would  watch  a  curious  phenomenon  not  connected  with  them- 
selves. And  so  interested  was  he  in  this  that  it  seemed  not  a 
part  of  his  own  vital  existence,  but  some  physical  fact  merely 
that  he  was  observing. 
(7) 


34 

He  discovered  also  that  when  this  change  came  to  his  body 
his  spirit  became  more  active  ;  he  could  perceive  more  dis- 
tinctly the  principles  of  life  around  him.  Instead  of  a  fading 
away  of  the  senses,  there  was  a  quickening  of  every  faculty. 
He  could  hear  better  and  could  see  better.  He  could  nut  only 
see  the  forms  of  his  loved  ones  standing  around  in  the  physical 
body,  but  he  could  feel  their  thoughts,  understand  their  griefs, 
and  plead  with  them  not  to  be  thinking  that  he  was  dying,  but 
that  he  was  growing  more  and  more  alive  every  moment. 

The  clock  ticking  upon  the  mantel  w  asnot  only  palpable  to 
his  senses,  but  he  could  feel  the  pulsation  of  time  while  the 
waves  of  eternity  were  rolling  in  upon  and  around  him.  He 
could  see  the  thought  of  the  attendant  physician,  whose  hand 
was  on  his  pulse,  that  he  could  not  last  many  minutes  longer, 
and  in  spirit  he  could  smile  at  the  feebleness  of  the  physical 
physician,  who  did  not  know  the  reality  of  life  from  its  sem- 
blance. "Last  many  minutes  longer  "  *?  Why,  he  was  pre- 
paring to  last  forever,  and  putting  on  this  superconsciousness 
of  immortality  while  yet  the  physical  form  was  gradually 
receding. 

A  new  transport,  a  new  delight  took  possession  of  him. 
Every  atom  of  the  surrounding  atmosphere  was  vocal  ;  every 
particle  was  luminous,  ami  instead  of  dull,  empty  air,  there 
were  millions  of  forms  of  life  that  before  were  unperceived,  and 
the  countenances  with  which  he  had  become  familiar  in  his 
periods  of  spiritual  visitations,  now  came  to  him  as  a  greater 
reality,  as  more  living  and  palpable  presences.  He  was  sud- 
denly conscious  of  expansion  of  vision,  and  saw  all  the  places 
of  the  earth  that  he  had  ever  visited.  He  perceived  immortal 
heighths  and  depths  that  before  were  unknown  to  him,  and 
which  he  had  simply  visited  in  the  periods  of  spiritual  vision. 
Oh,  it  was  a  seizing  of  life  from  its  beginning!  It  was  the  trans- 
port of  added  birth  !  As  plumes  to  the  bird,  as  wings  to  the 
butterfly,  or  as  the  higher  air  of  the  mountain  to  the  one  who 
has  lived  in  a  dark  cave,  such  was  the  rapture  that  took  pos- 
session of  him. 

And  strangely  enough,  all  persons  who  were  in  sympathy 
with  him  in  the  slightest  degree,  whose  affections  went  out  to 
him,  who  were  thinking,  perhaps,  at  this  hour  their  friend  was 


35 

dying — to  him  their  thoughts  were  as  real  and  palpable  as  though 
they  were  printed  in  burning  letters  before  him.  He  could 
see  their  mistaken  ideas  of  death  ;  and  he  could  feel  compassion 
for  them,  for  they  did  not  know  any  better  than  to  feel  as  they 
did.  He  could  comprehend  not  only  their  condition,  hut  he 
could  say  to  himself,  "I  will  soon  convince  you,  my  friends, 
that  I  am  not  dead."  So  alive  did  he  seem,  and  so  conscious, 
that  he  was  really  aware  at  one  and  the  same  time  of  the 
thoughts  of  all  his  friends. 

This  became  the  living  reality  into  which  he  entered,  and 
the  spiritual  states  so  endowed  him  with  the  palpable  po-^  g- 
sion  of  the  spirit,  that  all  time,  distance  and  space  were  anni- 
hilated by  the  perception  of  the  spirit,  and  a  thousand  miles 
seemed  but  here,  and  a  thousand  days  seemed  but  as  a  mo- 
ment. All  of  his  life  was  summed  up  in  the  charmed  and 
crystal  jewels  that  shone  clear  and  bright  as  an  epitome  of  his 
best  and  brightest  thoughts;  while  the  shadows,  such  as  en- 
viron our  human  life,  seemed  to  fade  away  in  the  greater  and 
larger  splendor  of  being. 

As  one  who  is  accustomed  to  the  waves  shrinks  not  from 
plunging- into  the  ocean,  confident  that  the  buoyancy  will  bear 
him  up,  so  drinking  in  the  splendor  of  freedom  did  that  spirit 
feel  in  the  light,  and  strength,  and  power  of  the  new  life  ; 
or  better  still,  as  one  would  feel  if  able  to  soar  upwards  and 
cleave  with  pinions  of  might  the  upper  air,  so  did  he  feel 
when  no  longer  encompassed  by  the  physical  form. 

Better  than  this  :  The  love,  and  the  hope,  and  the  faith 
that  had  been  his,  the  confidence  and  the  knowledge,  became 
palpable  reality — the  living  light  of  his  presence.  Still  fa- 
miliar with  scientific  truths  upon  earth  as  taught  by  man,  the 
reality  of  the  soul  of  science  came  upon  him  in  that  spiritual 
state  ;  principles  were  perceived  ;  it  was  no  longer  the  rela- 
tionships of  matter  wTith  matter  or  atom  with  atom,  time  and 
space  intervening.  Oh,  it  was  the  work  of  life  to  feel  the  vital 
principles  of  vital  truth.  Stars  were  measured  ;  space  was 
annihilated  ;  atoms  were  perceived  in  their  relative  position, 
and  all  government  by  the  laws  of  intelligence  and  of  life. 

There  could  be  no  mystery  to  this  man  in  death.  He 
could  see  the  thoughts  of  those  whom  he  loved  as  palpable  as 


36 

you  can  a  written  page,  and  could  feel  their  lamentations,  un- 
derstand their  sorrow,  and  have  compassion  for  the  grief  that 
they  felt  for  his  change.  But  he  could  triumph  in  the  con- 
sciousness :  "  How  they  will  feel  when  they  come  to  know 
what  death  is,  and  the  mistake  that  they  have  made."  And  with 
that  triumph  came  the  greatest  compassion  for  the  short- 
sightedness of  human  vision  that  considers  death  a  darkness 
instead  of  the  light. 

Such  a  great  presence  as  that  in  spiritual  life — such  a 
mind  as  that  freed  from  the  material  form — is  not  the  setting 
of  a  sun  or  star  upon  earth,  but  the  rising  of  a  splendor  in  the 
spiritual  firmament.  Such  men  bear  with  them  into  the  spir- 
itual kingdom  the  powers  of  mighty  warriors.  They  are  not 
monarchs  of  the  field  of  blood  upon  the  earth  ;  they  are  not 
potentates  that  sway  by  the  might  of  arms,  but  they  are  spirits 
who  govern  by  the  majesty  of  the  law  of  love  and  kindness, 
and  sway  human  lives  by  the  grandeur  of  their  spiritual  per- 
ceptions. 

Therefore,  when  the  press  of  earth  and  the  funereal  pomp 
say  to  you  a  great  splendor  has  gone  out  of  human  life,  they 
know  not  what  they  say.  A  great  splendor  has  been  added  to  hu- 
man life  ;  has  been  set  free  to  shine  upon  humanity  ;  has  been 
released,  as  a  light  that  might  have  been  hidden,  as  the  sun- 
shine obscured  by  the  bank  of  fog,  or  an  eclipse  ;  as  a  planet 
not  before  discovered,  shining  within  the  radius  of  telescopic 
vision — such  is  a  wise  man  when  freed  from  the  human  form. 

Often  those  who  mourn  the  material  loss  are  exalted  into 
the  atmosphere  which  he  inhabits,  and  must  follow,  by  one  step 
at  least,  to  where  he  leads.  A  great  man  never  leaves  the  earth 
through  the  change  called  death,  that  lives  are  not  ennobled  by 
that  departure;  not  only  by  the  attempt  to  follow  into  the  state 
or  condition  in  which  he  is  not  only  by  questioning  as  to 
whither  he  has  gone,  but  by  the  light  which  he  is  able  to  shed 
upon  them,  by  the  power  which  he  is  able  to  use  in  governing 
their  lives. 

A  man  of  science  valuable  to  earth,  becomes  of  inesti- 
mable value  in  spiritual  existence.  A  good  man  doing  deeds  of 
charity  who  causes  hundreds  to  deplore  his  absence,  is  able  to 
do  a  thousand  more  deeds  in  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit;  and 


37 

all  the  more  because  the  personality  that  attaches  to  his  pres- 
ence on  earth,  does  not  necessarily  follow  the  doing  of  the 
deed;  he  is  able  to  do  charity  in  that  way  that  charity  loves 
best  of  all — without  being  known  and  recognized  ;  to  do  a 
kindness  here,  and  shower  blessings  there,  and  not  be  feted 
and  nattered  in  return. 

And  such  is  the  nature  of  a  God-like  spirit,  and  such  is 
the  grandeur  of  the  soul  that  is  exalted,  that  the  deed  of  kind- 
ness, unknown  in  its  person,  is  so  much  the  sweeter  and  rarer 
to  the  spirit.  Therefore,  wherever  man  aspires  to  the  greater 
heights  of  goodness,  wherever  communities  are  exalted  by 
some  impulse  of  patriotism  or  virtue,  where  one  is  inspired  to 
take  up  a  great  reform  and  minds  are  swaj  ed  by  their  pres- 
ence— such  *a  disembodied  spirit  as  I  have  mentioned  is  work- 
ing, and  guiding,  and  leading,  and  inspiring  them  to  follow. 

But  you  can  imagine,  if  you  are  the  keeper  of  a  light- 
house and  the  light  is  turned  from  the  people  toward  you,  the 
mariner  has  little  guidance;  but  if  you  up  there  in  the  tower, 
having  the  secrets  of  the  mechanism,  can  turn  the  light  with 
all  its  full  radiance  out  upon  the  stormy  sea,  then  there  it 
becomes  the  beacon,  there  it  becomes  the  true  guide  for  others 
to  follow;  such  is  the  disembodied  spirit.  He  not  only 
receives  the  light,  but  he  is  in  a  position  to  adjust  it  for  the 
welfare  and  defense  of  others;  he  not  only  preceives  the  truth, 
but  he  is  in  a  position  that  it  shall  shine  out  upon  the  waste 
of  waters  in  human  life  to  illumine  your  earthly  voyage. 

O,  be  sure  that  down  into  the  darkness  of  your  material 
lives,  such  splendors  as  go  out  from  your  habitations,  such 
children  as  your  loving  care  has  followed  into  the  world  of 
spirits,  such  parents  as  guided  you  in  youth  and  manhood, 
and  friends  whom  you  deplore,  are  able  more  and  more  to 
transport  your  thoughts,  your  lives,  your  aspirations  toward 
the  kingdoms  of  knowledge  and  goodness.  And  call  you  this 
death  or  call  you  this  a  loss ?  Nay,  it  is  a  two-fold  gain!  It  is 
a  treasure  for  you  in  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit,  and  it  is 
possession  to  them  in  the  realities  of  that  kingdom. 

Such  a  spirit  carries  with  him  or  herself  the  wonderful  kingdom 
it  is  to  inhabit.  Not  Alladin's  palace  nor  the  caves  of  wonder 
discovered  in  Monte  Cristo  are  so  matchless  as  the  realm  that 

(8) 


29255.5 


38 

such  a  spirit  occupies;  a  realm  filled  with  crystalline  jewels  of 
wisdom,  sparkling  gems  of  truth,  aspirations  of  life  crowned 
and  surrounded  with  the  achievements  of  harmony  and  peace. 
There  is  no  music,  no  blooming  flowers  of  earth,  no  gor- 
geously decorated  hills  or  vales  in  midsummer  glory,  no 
thought  of  love  on  earth  that  begins  to  compare  with  the 
rapture  of  that  presence,  the  consciousness  of  that  love,  the 
capacity  to  know,  and  to  be,  and  to  do,  what  the  spirit 
aspires  to. 

I  have  given  you  two  typical  conditions  of  ignorance 
and  knowledge  in  spirit  life.  I  will  give  you  now  two  con- 
ditions illustrative  of  degradation  through  sin  or  depravity, 
and  a  state  that  is  exempt  from  these. 

He  who  is  enveloped  in  what  is  called  moral  tlegradation, 
be  he  the  criminal  condemned  to  die  by  the  hand  of  the  law, 
or  be  he  the  criminal  who  is  sufficiently  powerful  to  withstand 
the  law  and  set  in  his  high  place  on  earth,  and  still  have  the 
soul  of  the  criminal — it  matters  not  what  the  state  be  called, 
what  the  seeming  is  here  below,  we  take  the  moral  condition 
without  reference  to  the  physical  seeming;  for  it  is  well  known 
to  you  that  many  monster  criminals  sit  in  places  of  power  on 
earth  and  justice  never  overtakes  them,  while  lesser  ones  are 
the  victims  of  the  law  that  the  mpnsters  helped  to  make. 
Whatsoever  be  the  earthly  estate,  therefore,  he  is  in  the 
shadow-land  of  crime,  of  sin,  of  ignorance  of  the  moral  law, 
and  he  passes  from  the  earth  to  the  spiritual  condition  in  full 
possession  of  himself.  If  he  be  a  pauper,  his  inheritance  is 
his  own  state  ;  if  he  be  a  prince  or  if  he  have  the  wealth  of  a 
Croesus,  his  inheritance  is  still  his  own  state. 

He  enters  the  condition  of  his  self  perception,  and  if  he 
does  not  know  that  he  is  yet  passed  away  from  earth,  (which 
many  do  not,)  not  being  aware  of  spiritual  laws  or  what  the 
change  will  be  called  death,  he  still  finds  himself  surrounded 
by  his  own  desires,  tormented  by  his  own  condition,  fleeing 
from  some  imaginary  fear  of  penalty  for  his  own  misdeeds. 

He  who  expiates  his  crime  in  accordance  with  the  law  of 
earth,  or  of  many  nations  of  the  earth,  is  often  brought  face 
to  face  with  his  own  condition  before  death,  and  such  retro- 
spect is  of  more  value  to  him  ;  and  while  he  does  not  at  once 


39 

pass  into  that  kingdom  of  glory  prescribed  for  him  by  our 
theological  friends,  if  he  repent  of  his  sins,  at  the  same  time 
the  fact  of  his  having  become  aware  of  his  own  condition 
somewhat  leads  to  the  consciousness  of  the  change  which  he 
is  passing  through.  Such  an  one  is  amazed;  he  neither  finds 
himself  in  that  heaven  promised  by  theology,  nor  in  that  hell 
which  he  expected  to  gain  if  he  missed  the  former.  But  he 
finds  himself  in  a  worse  position — environed  by  his  own 
thoughts;  confronted  by  his  own  state;  actually  surrounded, 
not  by  what  he  wished  for  most  in  the  hour  of  his  salvation, 
(exemption  from  the  consciousness  of  his  crimes  or  misdeeds,) 
but  in  the  presence  of  them;  and  like  the  king  in  the  play,  the 
spectres  pass  before  his  vision  of  those  whom  he  has  murdered. 
He  does  not  get  away  from  his  own  atmosphere;  he  does  not 
get  away  from  that  which  he  has  done.  He  has  sought  to 
escape  the  consequence*  of  his  deeds  instead  of  the  deeds  them- 
selves; and  like  all  who  would  fly  from  the  legitimate  effects 
of  wrong,  he  finds  the  wrong  is  still  within  him.  And  we  say 
that  no  picture  of  Hades  or  Gehenna  can  ecpial  that  condition 
which  comes  to  him  when  he  is  aware  that  he  has  no  other 
inheritance  in  spiritual  life,  save  his  own  condition. 

And  if  he  has  been  an  earthly  ruler,  and  sat  restlessly  up- 
on his  throne  of  power,  working  against  the  rights  of  others 
for  his  own  individual  prominence,  how  much  more  galling, 
how  much  more  appalling  is  his  condition  when  he  finds  that 
the  meanest  of  his  subjects  is  more  free  than  he;  for  he  has 
nothing  but  his  own  thoughts  that  return  and  consume. 

Shadows,  it  may  be,  to  the  better  man;  to  him,  living 
realities;  and  these  do  not  pass  from  him  by  his  seeking  to 
evade  them.  He  might  fly  through  day  and  night;  wander  up 
and  down  the  dwellings  of  earth  or  of  space;  he  might  seek 
in  the  remotest  star  exemption  from  every  presence,  but  they 
would  be  with  him  still,  because  he  carries  the  wrong  within 
himself. 

As  one  lost  in  the  forest  wroods  soon  follows  a  circle  and 
moves  in  a  very  narrow  sphere  round  and  round,  so  the  self- 
haunted  victims  of  their  own  condition  are  not  able  to  go 
beyond  the  narrow  confines  of  their  own  individual  state.  To 
them    no  planet,  no  sun,  no  splendor  of  space  offers  a  retreat  ; 


40 

no  blooming  vales  of  earth,  and  no  wide  deserts  could  be  an 
escape;  they  still  must  pass  like  those  within  the  charmed  ring, 
round  and  round  the  small  centre  of  their  own  desires  and 
darkened  conditions,  feeding  upon  the  shadows  which  they 
have  created.  And  but  for  the  love  that  lies  latent  in  every 
heart;  but  for  some  gleam  of  the  affection,  mayhap  of  wife  or 
little  child,  that  shall  have  power  to  move  the  strongest  heart 
of  crime,  these  might  be  said  to  have  no  hope;  yet  we  know 
that  that  one  tie  of  love,  that  one  gleaming  light  from  within, 
will  one  day  rescue  them. 

Powerless  to  do  others  harm,  the  shafts  that  they  have 
aimed  at  others,  by  the  law  of  the  spirit,  are  found  within 
themselves.  And  such  is  the  moral  law  of  the  universe, 
whether  you  be  on  earth  or  in  spirit  state,  whenever  venom 
goes  out  from  your  presence  aimed  at  another  life  or  another 
heart,  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  it  not  in  the  life  that  you 
have  aimed  to  injure,  but  in  your  own  spirit.  These  are 
laws  that  if  applied  to  your  outermost  consciousness,  crime 
and  uncharitableness  would  sink  away  before  the  actual  life  of 
the  spirit,  and  the  venom  that  you  heap  upon  others  would 
certainly  be  dispelled  by  broader  love  and  higher  dignity  of 
goodness.  Then  you  will  become  aware  that  there  is  no  law 
of  gravitation  that  can  govern  the  spirit,  and  no  other  law  of 
nature  that  can  direct  its  course,  save  that  which  causes  all  evil 
that  is  in  you  to  gravitate  towards  yourself,  and  the  goodness 
that  is  in  you  to  radiate  towards  others,  and  by  reflection 
shine  upon  you  again. 

Such  then  is  the  state  of  the  abject  servant  of  human  pas- 
sion. All  individuals  may  apply  this  with  profit,  for  we  know 
of  no  one  free  from  imperfection;  none  indeed  who  may  not 
learn  the  lesson  which  we  have  just  recited,  with  great  profit 
and  apply  it  day  and  night  while  in  the  earthly  dwelling;  for 
even  then  when  you  come  face  to  face  with  your  own  spirit- 
ual state,  there  will  be  much  that  you  wish  that  you  did  not 
possess,  much  that  you  could  wish  had  been  washed  in  some 
white  pool  of  the  soul  before  you  were  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  knowledge  of  it. 

As  angels  never  look  upon  mortals  and  spirits  other 
than  with  compassion,  but,  as  they  are  pictured,  turning  away 


4  1 

so  that  they  may  not  see  the  selfishness  and  self-abasemenl  of 
him  who  becomes  aware  of  his  faults,  so  in  the  heights  that 
are  above  you  there  are  none  that  will  censure  you  as  severely 
as  you  do  yourself;  none,  indeed,  that  will  not  gaze  down 
with  compassion  upon  a  state  which  they  well  can  under- 
stand and  which  you  are  endeavoring-  to  overcome. 

My  next  picture  must  finish:  and  that  is  the  condition  of 
him  who  is  free  from  selfishness  as  is  possible  for  one  to  be  in 
human  life.  Usually  such  an  one  is  humble  upon  earth; 
usually  he  must  walk  the  paths  of  penury  and  poverty  and 
toil,  for  there  is  little  room  for  opulence  with  those  who  are 
lowly  in  spirit. 

You  will  remember  that  it  is  related  of  Buddha  that  he 
was  born  a  prince,  inherited  all  the  kingdom  of  his  father's 
possessions,  and  was  studiously  sequestered  from  the  world 
within  his  Paradise  of  Delights  in  the  Temple  of  Perfect 
Enjoyment,  that  he  might  not  know  of  sorrow,  sin  or  death; 
and  that  there  came  unto  his  life  love,  pleasure,  enjoyment, 
tranquillity.  But  the  deep  foreboding  of  his  destiny  haunted 
him  day  and  night,  and  some  unknown  voice  called  him  from 
his  father's  dwelling  to  go  out  and  see  the  world.  His  white 
horse  was  summoned;  his  servant  brought  to  his  master  the 
favorite  steed;  and  in  the  silence  of  the  night  he  went  out  in- 
to the  world  that  he  might  see  its  marvels.  Behold,  there  was 
sin,  and  death,  and  suffering,  and  he  had  never  seen  either. 
And  then  he  went  away  into  the  kingdoms  where  the  good 
men  hold  recluse,  that  he  might  learn  the  secret  of  suffering 
and  know  the  causes  of  sin.  There  he  did  not  find  it;  holy 
men  led  goodly  lives,  and  with  them  he  fasted  and  prayed,  but 
there  came  to  him  no  revelation.  He  went  into  the  mysterious 
places  of  the  earth  to  endeavor  to  find  the  secret,  but  found  it 
not.  He  came  into  the  condition  of  the  lowly,  and  partook  of 
the  food  that  the  peasant  offered  him  in  the  sweet  seclusion 
of  her  home,  and  entering  beneath  the  shade  of  the  mysterious 
tree  whose  leaves  even  now  proclaim  his  name,  he  perceived 
the  secret  of  all  compassion  to  be  one  with  these  whom  he  had 
looked  upon  with  horror;  to  enter  every  state  and  condition, 
to  partake  of  their  sorrows  and  share  their  wrongs.  And  thus 
there  came  to  him  in  the  twelfth  watch  of  the  night  the  won- 
derful   conception   of  Nervana — the   victory   over   pain,  and 

(9) 


42 

suffering,  and  crime,  and  death.  And  thenceforth  Buddha  was 
free,  and  became  a  teacher,  a  Messiah,  because  there  was  noth- 
ing withheld  from  him;  nothing,  indeed,  that  he  was  not 
willing  to  share. 

So,  when  a  goodly  life  or  an  exalted  nature  is  upon  earth, 
he  may  not  be  known  to  his  fellows.  He  may  walk  the  earth 
humble;  he  may  wear  the  raiment  of  poverty;  he  may  be  des- 
pised because  he  has  not  opulence;  he  may  be  persecuted 
because  he  has  truth;  he  may  not  even  rise  to  the  dignity  of 
martyr,  but  may  be  put  to  death  ignominiously,  because  not 
equal  in  wealth  but  greater  in  integrity  than  his  fellow-men. 

I  know  of  such  a  life;  of  one  who  upon  earth  had  barely 
clothes  to  cover  his  body,  but  who  labored  day  by  day  in  the 
dusty  field,  endeavoring  to  supply  the  needs  of  those  depend- 
ent upon  him;  but  yet  there  came  up  from  his  heart  no  mur- 
muring, no  complaint.  He  did  not  even  despise  the  wealthy 
that  passed  him  by;  he  did  not  cast  one  envious  glance  towards 
their  estates  or  the  splendor  of  their  surroundings;  he  never 
thought  of  comparing  his  children,  dressed  in  the  scanty  rai- 
ment of  poverty,  with  those  that  passed  him  by  in  the  splendor 
of  their  lordly  apparel.  He  had  learned  the  great  seci-et  of  life; 
he  had  found  the  well-spring  of  happiness.  Neighbors  and 
friends  came  to  him  oftentimes  for  counsel  in  their  difficulties; 
wherever  there  was  sickness  or  death  he  was  the  calm  and 
skillful  attendant.  He  could  leave  his  plow,  he  could  leave 
his  field  of  grain  at  any  time  for  a  call  of  humanity;  and  many 
a  night  his  calm  face  was  found  bending  above  the  couch  of 
pain  while  others,  even  the  attendant  physician,  sought  repose 
in  their  own  palatial  dwellings.  He  went  out  from  his  neigh- 
bors and  friends  respected  by  them,  loved  certainly  by  those 
who  knew  him,  but  unhonored  by  the  many.  No  bells  were 
tolled  from  lofty  towers,  no  churches  proclaimed  his  departure, 
no  solemn  ritual,  no  funeral  service,  no  long  train  of  carriages 
containing  distinguished  mourners  following  his  form  to  the 
burial  place.  The  few  who  were  members  of  his  dwelling  had 
been  taught  by  him  not  to  mourn  the  approach  of  death;  and  the 
children  sat  there,  calm  without,  yet  serious,  and  the  wife  made 
no  murmuring.  Those  who  gazed  upon  them  said :  "Those  chil- 
dren, have  no  feeling."  But  the  good  man  had  taught  them 
there  was  nothing  to  fear  in  the  change  called  death,  and  if 


43 

they  would  be  near  to  his  love  and  care,  they  must  meet  every 
thing  in  life  with  equal  fortitude  and  equal  calmness  and 
equal  love.  And  by  some  mysterious  joy  which  those  around 
did  not  know,  the  eyes  of  the  little  ones  were  cast  upward,  and 
the  lips  seemed  open  as  if  to  hold  communion  with  him  there. 

That  man's  life  on  earth  was  a  benediction;  it  was  like  a 
folded  psalm  between  two  leaves,  that  if  opened  and  read  would 
be  leaves  of  gold  and  syllables  of  jeweled  light.  But  not  a  ray 
or  ripple  upon  the  rustling  surface  of  society,  only  when  that 
spirit  became  conscious  of  spiritual  life,  the  snowy  humility 
that  encircled  him  round  about  was  like  white  lilies;  there 
sprang  up  from  every  portion  of  the  beautiful  space  around 
him  faces  like  the  faces  of  children,  clothed  upon  with  angelic 
beauty — the  goodly  deeds  and  thoughts  of  that  man's  life;  and 
a  crown  that  others  saw,  but  which  he  in  his  humility  did  not 
perceive,  did  not  know  that  he  wore,  adorned  his  brow.  It 
was  the  crown  of  his  pure  thoughts  and  lofty  aspirations;  and 
the  raiment  that  he  wore  unconsciously  to  himself,  still  rilled 
with  the  humility  of  his  earthly  life,  was  snowy  in  the  white- 
ness and  purity  of  his  soul.  There  were  those  whom  he  had 
benefited;  those  whom  he  had  ministered  to  in  their  dying 
hours;  those  whom  he  had  elevated  into  hope  of  immortality, 
bringing  to  him  garlands  of  sweet  remembrance,  thronging 
upon  him  with  words  of  congratulation ;  and  into  the  far  space 
his  soul  could  gaze  with  the  clear  vision  of  satisfaction,  and 
the  God  of  Love  had  opened  the  pathway  of  his  vision,  and  he 
could  see  the  immortal  splendor  of  truth.  Angels  and  Arch- 
angles  could  bend  above  him,  and  minister  such  food  of  the 
soul  as  only  those  can  understand  who  have  tasted  the  immor- 
tal life. 

And  he,  without  fear  or  trembling,  or  shadow  or  stain 
upon  his  spirit,  and  one  with  the  whiteness  of  death  and  the 
transports  of  being,  could  cast  upon  all  the  community  around 
and  upon  many  lives  of  earth  that  never  knew  him,  such  white 
radiance  as  would  blossom  out  in  prayer,  or  praise,  or  goodly 
deed.  And  the  wordly  man,  inspired  suddenly  to  do  some  act 
of  kindness  here,  paused  in  the  midst  of  his  daily  pitrsuits  at 
the  sound  of  a  little  child's  voice,  not  knowing  that  it  was  the 
white  soul  of  that  saint  who  had  inspired  him  to  the  deed  of 
goodness.     Such  are  some  of  the  typical  states  in  spiritual  life. 


44 


Occupations  and  Employments 
In  Spirit  I^ife, 


We  have  endeavored  to  give  in  the  previous  discourses 
some  idea  of  spiritual  states  and  conditions.  This,  of  course, 
has  been  the  state  and  condition  of  the  spirit  itself — the  state 
of  being.  That  which  we  propose  to  invite  your  attention  to 
now  is  the  active  state,  or  the  state  of  doing. 

All  ideas  of  human  employment  must  necessarily  cluster 
around  the  senses.  The  labor  of  the  hands  is  the  great  bur- 
den of  human  existence,  the  weary  treadmill  in  which  man 
finds  himself  immured,  from  which  there  seems  to  be  little 
opportunity  of  escape,  save  through  the  avenue  of  wealth,  in- 
digence, or  intellectual  power.  The  wealthy  seek  exemption 
from  the  toil  of  the  hands,  as  though,  indeed,  those  cunningly 
fashioned  instruments  were  not  especially  adapted  to  human 
uses  ;  as  though,  fulfilling  the  purposes  of  thought  and  brain, 
the  fingers  and  hands  were  not  indeed  the  divine  achievment 
which  they  are. 

The  very  wealthy  and  the  very  idle  seek  exemption  from 
the  ban  of  toil  only  to  plunge  into  a  more  toilsome  pleasure. 
For  if  labor  is  indeed  the  tyrant  of  earth,  there  can  be  no 
greater  than  that  of  idleness — that  which  seeks  freedom  from 
systematic  labor.  A  great  pleasure-hunting,  pleasure-loving, 
and  pleasure-weary  world,  would  be  a  spectacle  far  sadder  to 
the  eyes  of  the  spirit  than  a  labor-weary  world.  If  there  be  a 
divine  seal  which  God  has  placed  on  the  human  brow,  and  a 
signet  of  a  nobility  that  prince  and  king  can  never  wear,  it  is 
the  seal  of  labor  ;  not  that  kind  of  toil  that  comes  with  the 
weary,  grinding  slavery,  nor  that  mechanism  of  toil  that  grinds 
the  life  out  of  the  young  that  the  great,  and  the  proud,  and  the 
wealthy  may  revel  in  luxury,  but  the  labor  of  the  willing  hand 
and  ready  heart  ;  the  daily  preparation  for  the  daily  life.  The 
accomplishment  by  each  of  something  that  is  worthy  and  well 
done  for  every  day,  is  the  ennobling  thought  of  human  exis- 


4.-) 

tence.  The  exemption  from  toil  of  the  hands  is  the  great 
triumph  of  mechanical  art,  but  which  only  leads  man  into 
more  skillful  and  intricate  paths  of  toil.  But,  after  all,  in 
human  life  you  construct  your  ideas  of  labor  upon  thai  w  hich 
is  most  wearisome,  and  consider  that  a  wholesome  fatigue 
after  the  day  of  toil  is  something- to  be  avoided.  Do  not  think 
so.  In  the  great  coming  time  of  the  earth,  in  the  golden  age 
that  is  to  be,  there  will  be  no  drones,  no  idlers,  no  laggards, 
in  the  great  human  family.  Every  one  will  perform  enough 
labor  for  bodily  health,  to  supply  the  bodily  needs,  and  a 
greater  simplicity  of  life  will  lead  to  the  greater  happiness  of 
spirit  and  to  mind  ;  while  if  mechanical  arts  are  employed  for 
uplifting  the  grosser  burdens  of  toil,  it  will  only  be  that  the 
hands  are  set  free  to  those  employments  more  congenial,  which 
satisfy  the  mind. 

Often  we  have  heard  people  say:  "  Oh,  if  I  only  had 
time  !"  Pardon  me.  Timeis  not  so  much  an  important  factor  ; 
at  least  there  is  not  so  little  time  as  there  is  lack  of  adaptation 
—lack  of  the  right  kind  of  energy,  lack  of  useful  employment 
of  moments  and  hours,  which  perhaps  are  wasted  in  idle  long- 
ing, in  unnecessary  desires  for  that  which  you  do  not  possess. 
How  much  can  be  accomplished  in  an  hour  towards  those  pur- 
suits that  you  say  you  long  for. 

The  spectacle  of  humanity  left  without  employment  would 
be  a  spectacle  of  great  sadness  ;  a  spectacle  indeed  that  could 
not  be  contemplated  without  most  absolute  misery  on  the  part 
of  those  left  without  occupation. 

But  the  difference  between  the  spiritual  state  and  the 
earthly  is,  that  the  absolute  necessities  are  spiritual  instead  of 
material ;  that  therefore  the  employments  must  be  spiritual 
instead  of  material.  But  if  one  accustomed  to  employment  of 
the  hands,  and  no  thought  beyond  that,  shall  pass  into  spirit- 
ual life,  that  one  surely  is  not  left  without  an  adequate  substi- 
tute for  that  active  employment  which  has  engaged  him  here. 
So  in  reality  he  does  engage  in  manual  labor  there  by  assisting 
those  on  earth  who  are  still  compelled  to  toil. 

Do  you  not  know  when  you  have  had  an  unusual  anion ni 
of  labor  some  particular  day  or  week,  how  you  have  been 
aided,    how  your  hands  have   been    strengthened,  how  your 

(10) 


46 

mind  has  been  encouraged .  and  your  feet  made  to  walk,  by 
some  presence  and  power  not  seen  ?  Such  assistance  comes 
not  only  to  the  spirit  from  those  who  love  you,  but  to  the  body 
from  those  who  are  willing  and  able  to  aid  you  in  your  toil. 

The  burdens  of  the  world  are  not  left  for  you  to  bear  alone, 
provided  you  bear  them  willingly.  It  is  the  willing  laborer 
which  is  assisted,  but  the  sluggard,  and  the  drone,  and  the 
complaining  one  is  not  in  condition  to  be  assisted  in  either 
world.  There  must  come  to  each  from  out  the  spiritual  states 
where  strength  and  power  are  predominant,  a  distinct  and  con- 
scious assistance.  To  aid  those  who  are  toiling  wearily  like 
the  slave  from  morning  till  night,  without  the  conscious  lift- 
ing of  his  burden  ;  to  aid  those  who  stand  upon  their  feet  from 
early  morn  till  late  at  night,  and  have  no  opportunity  to  rest 
the  weary  limb  or  divert  the  weary  brain,  is  a  great  privilege. 
The  hands  of  human  beings  who  minister  in  that  capacity  but 
find  expression  to  their  usual  thought  for  employment  and  for 
toil.  And  these  are  they  who  help  in  the  great  wonder-work- 
ings of  the  world — the  building  of  railways,  of  ships,  of  cities, 
of  mighty  enterprises  that  require  countless  human  hands. 
This  same  element  in  spiritual  life  is  utilized  to  make  the  bur- 
den of  the  toiler  less. 

The  spirits  do  not  find  it  necessary  to  labor  physically  for 
their  own  maintenance.  They  must,  therefore,  find  that  which 
corresponds  to  the  thought  of  their  labor  or  employment  in 
assisting  in  the  maintenance  of  others,  endeavoring  to  make 
their  burdens  lighter. 

Such  is  the  necessity  of  occupation  that  many  minds,  even 
of  earth,  seek  employment  perhaps  not  necessary  to  be  done. 
Restless  conditions  of  mind  are  not  necessarily  conditions  of 
employment.  Dissatisfaction  is  not  necessarily  evidence  of 
activity.  Those  who  are  restless  would  do  well  to  find 
great  employment  in  the  majesty  of  content,  and  in  the 
grandeur  of  seeking  not  simply  something  to  do,  but  some- 
thing that  is  needful  to  be  done.  It  is  not  always  necessary  to 
take  a  broom  and  brush  around  in  the  centre  of  the  room  in 
order  to  be  busy.  Your  speaker  has  known  many  housewives 
who  have  not  only  found  it  necessary  to  employ  every  moment 
of   the  day  in  doing  that  which   had  been  done  already,  but 


47 

doing  it  over  again  because  it  was  not  best  to  be  idle.  Such 
is  not  labor  or  employment,  but  it  is  a  state  of  overwrought 
nerves;  a  condition  of  restlessness  that  would  do  well  to  seek 
rest. 

In  spirit  life  employments  are  such  as  are  adapted  to  the 
condition  of  the  individual,  and  if  not  conscious  or  wise 
enough  to  know,  then  the  inferior  spirit  is  acted  upon  by  some 
power  above  that  guides  in  the  way  best  suited  to  their 
condition. 

Some  people  say  :  "  I  should  like  to  study  art,  chemistry, 
science,  mathematics,  if  I  only  had  time,"  and  are  dissatisfied 
with  the  labor  of  the  hands  that  they  must  do,  that  precludes 
them,  as  they  consider,  from  this  loftier  occupation. 

One  thing  we  would  wish  to  express  here  :  We  consider 
no  labor  of  life  degrading  save  that  which  is  performed  under 
an  enslaved  condition  of  the  mind.  We  consider  no  needful 
duty  lower  than  any  other  duty,  and  they  who  are  galled  by 
the  idea  of  menial  labor  because  it  is  degrading,  must  in  spir- 
itual states  learn  the  humility  and  the  necessity  of  doing  small 
things  well  ere  they  can  have  charge  of  the  greater  things  in 
the  Father's  home.  To  pursue  art  merely  because  it  is  aesthetic, 
while  the  needed  duty  of  the  hour  is  neglected  ;  for  the  young 
man  or  woman  to  play  on  the  piano  while  the  mother  is  a 
slave  to  the  household,  or  to  study  higher  mathematics  because 
that  is,  seemingly,  more  exhalted  than  the  making  of  bread  or 
the  plowing  of  the  field,  is  not  in  our  opinion  an  exaltation  of 
labor. 

To  exalt  labor  you  must  do  it  with  dignity  yourself  ;  you 
must  make  it  dignified  by  the  spirit  you  bring  unto  it.  The 
great  knowledge  wrought  in  spiritual  states  is  to  exalt  man's 
perception  of  the  lowly  duty. 

The  disciples  washing  the  feet  of  the  Master  was  not  in 
vain  ;  it  was  a  spectacle  of  devotion.  But  the  Master  washing 
the  feet  of  the  disciples  was  an  illustration  of  loving  labor,  or 
duty  well  performed  ;  that  nothing  indeed  is  humiliating  that 
is  an  office  of  love  or  duty. 

In  the  grandeur  of  the  spiritual  kingdoms  all  labors  are 
utilized,  all  employments  are  made  sacred  ;  all  necessary,  and 
needful,  and  helpful  duties  are  registered  as  among  the  neces- 


48 

s  irv  offerings  of  life.  He  who  has  avoided  labor  of  the  hands 
in  his  earthly  life,  for  the  mere  sake  of  idle  display  or  still 
more  idle  pleasure,  will  doubtless  find  himself  an  attendant, 
spiritually,  of  the  man  of  toil,  seeking-  to  make  his  burden  less, 
ere  the  spirit  of  the  one  who  has  loitered  here  is  able  to  advance. 
For  such  is  the  direct  nature  of  spiritual  law  that  he  who  has 
been  the  idler  here,  who  has  lived  upon  the  labors  of  others, 
must  undo  that  injustice  or  wrong,  unlearn  that  lesson,  before 
he  can  rise  in  spiritual  states,  or  even  begin  to  seek  the  knowl- 
edge that  he  covets.  Bv  this  we  do  not  mean  that  all  should 
perform  the  same  duties  or  labors  here,  but  certainly  none 
should  be  avoided  from  the  motives  that  we  have  named! 

If  an  artist  can  paint  a  picture  better  than  anything  else, 
he  should  be  allowed  to  paint  pictures.  But  there  are  certain 
necessary  offices  in  every  human  life  that  human  hands  should 
perform,  and  he  should  never  feel  above  the  personal  assist- 
ance that  may  be  needed  in  daily  life. 

If  a  man  can  best  study  mathematics,  and  give  to  the 
world  the  benefit  of  the  laws  that  govern  the  starry  heavens, 
he  should  do  this  ;  but  he  should  by  no  means  be  oblivious  of 
the  daily  duties  of  life.  He  who  is  a  true  philosopher  seeks 
the  morning  walk,  the  daily  exercise  of  the  hands,  as  best 
suited  to  the  more  healthful  activity  of  brain  when  the  hour 
of  labor  is  over. 

The  spiritual  world  affords  the  adaptation  for  toil,  but 
not  for  idleness  ;  affords  the  measiire  for  employment,  but  not 
for  shrinking  or  shirking  any  duty  ;  affords  constant  and  ever- 
living  pressure  toward  the  unfoldment  of  the  active  powers 
that  are  within,  and,  as  stated  before,  if  the  individual  requires 
the  emplo3rment  of  the  hands,  as  here,  and  requires  that  to 
satisfy  him  of  daily  and  hourly  existence,  then  he  must  needs 
aid  some  of  those  who  are  toiling  in  material  ways  to  earn 
their  daily  bread. 

There  are  many  who,  if  turned  loose  into  the  spiritual  or 
the  other  existence  without  compulsory  labor  which  day  by 
day  occupied  them  here,  would  feel  utterly  lost.  You  have 
noticed  in  some  instances  of  sudden  wealth,  where  a  man  who 
has  been  accustomed  to  mining  day  by  day  with  steady  and 
unfaltering   energy  and  hope,    thoughts  of  the  wealth  he  was 


49 

trying  to  gain  keeping  him  steadfast  to  his  daily  toil,  thai 
when  suddenly  overtaken  with  great  wealth  he  becomes  use- 
less ;  he  has  no  motive,  no  employment  ;  he  can  only  eat  and 
drink  and  sleep,  and  eat  and  drink  and  sleep,  until  the  body 
is  worn  with  excess  of  material  life. 

Such  is  the  spectacle,  given  for  your  benefit,  of  those  who 
need  constant  employment  ;  of  those  who,  not  having  the  cul- 
ture of  spirit  or  mind,  must  of  necessity  act  under  a  dominant 
and  all-pervading  hope  or  conception  e'er  they  can  be  useful. 
To  such  as  these  in  spiritual  life  there  is  constant  employment 
given.  It  is  an  employment,  not  of  seeking  for  gold,  but  it 
may  be  the  stimulating  of  some  poor  miner  who  is  working 
day  after  day  for  the  mere  support  of  himself  and  household  ; 
it  may  be  of  augmenting  the  life  of  those  who  are  still 
engaged  in  the  perilous  pursuit  for  gold.  The  pursuit  of 
wealth  constitutes,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  stimulating 
influences  to  labor  of  human  hands  ;  but  the  attainment  of 
wealth  is  something  that  is  only  permitted  to  the  few.  It  is  a 
dispensation  of  sorrow  that  .only  a  few  need,  and  you  can 
thank  God  if  it  has  not  been  yours. 

For  if  you  have  not  the  exalted  hope  that  leads  to  divine 
affection  or  charity,  the  wealth  that  would  suddenly  come 
upon  you  would  be  a  visitation  of  physical  malady,  of  great 
sorrow,  and  of  moral  turpitude.  If  there  are  those  in  your 
midst  who  are  chosen  to  illustrate  this  law,  read  the  lesson 
aright,  and  understand  that  while  men  may  labor  with  great 
nobility  for  the  attainment  of  wealth  and  a  development  of 
natural  resources,  still  there  could  be  scarcely  a  greater 
calamity  befall  an  undeveloped  mind,  or  even  one  more  or  less 
advanced,  than  the  sudden  possession  of  fabulous  wealth, 
because  the  senses  then  assert  their  power.  But  while  you 
are  in  the  state  of  labor  and  the  state  of  want  there  is  room 
for  the  spirit  to  expand  ;  the  exaltation  of  expectancy  gives 
buoyancy  to  your  lives,  and  the  grand  scenery  of  nature 
around  you  uplifts  from  the  degradation  and  sordid  nature  of 
the  pursuit  in  which  you  are  engaged.  In  spiritual  states  you 
can  dig  mountains  for  gold  if  you  will,  but  you  must  do  so  to 
aid  the  spirit  of  some  one  who  is  upon  the  earth.  Under  the 
necessity  of  physical  labor  you  may  perform  your  daily  voca- 

(11) 


50 

tion  if  you  desire,  but  you  must  do  so  with  the  added  motive 
of  helping-  some  one  else;  for  the  hand  is  palsied  and  the 
brain  becomes  powerless  and  enfeebled  of  him  or  her  who 
seeks  merely  for  him  or  herself,  employment.  To  while  away 
an  idle  hour,  to  give  new  mental  sensation,  or  to  achieve  some- 
thing for  the  mere  sake  of  the  praise  of  others,  does  not  con- 
stitute the  occupation  of  spiritual  existence. 

He  who  is  intent  upon  the  stars,  calling  them  by  their 
names  and  discovering  their  mathematical  relation  to  one 
another,  still  in  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit  finds  himself 
powerless  to  turn  his  spiritual  telescope  toward  any  star, 
planet,  sun,  or  orb  in  distant  space  unless  he  is  enkindled 
from  within  by  the  love  of  humanity.  So  that  the  greatest 
of  astronomers,  if  he  be  blind  spiritually,  finds  no  luminous 
point  from  which  he  can  radiate  his  pursuits  in  the  planetary 
world;  for  there  are  no  stars  within  range  of  his  spiritual  vision 
unless  lighted  by  this  divine  sphere  from  within;  and  many 
great  among  men,  perhaps  idolized,  find  themselves  in  a 
region  of  spiritual  darkness,  without  the  power — save  through 
the  plodding  routine  of  some  earthly  mind — to  discover  new 
worlds,  or  the  principles  upon  which  planets  turn  in  their 
orbits. 

But  fortunately  the  true  geniuses  of  science  are  geniuses 
nearly  always  in  spiritual  perception.  Their  occupation  is 
the  result  of  the  grandeur  of  their  minds  and  souls,  and  they 
cannot  contemplate  the  starry  heavens  or  the  wonders  of 
creation  without  a  corresponding  greatness  and  exaltation  of 
the  soul.  Therefore,  you  would  find  them  still  not  in  any 
uncertain  light  of  earth,  not  dependent  upon  the  observatory 
of  the  Signal  Service  Bureau,  not  doubtfully  watching  the 
stars  through  the  cloud-rifts  of  the  earthly  atmosphere,  nor 
dependent  upon  a  time  when  tempests  cease  their  power,  to 
watch  the  wonders  of  the  heavens;  but  in  the  region  made 
beautiful  by  the  light  of  their  own  spirits,  radiating  what  they 
receive  upon  those  beneath  them,  holding  in  contemplation 
in  the  very  watch-towers  of  their  spiritual  natures  the  divine 
firmament  around  and  above  them,  they  speak  forth  the 
thought,  and  radiate  from  within  the  light  that  is  to  give  them 
knowledge  of  the  starry  heavens.     To  these,  there  is  no  uncer- 


51 

tain  pathway  of  planets;  to  these,  comets  are  no  longer  a 
mystery;  to  these,  all  beauties  in  the  kingdom  of  light  beyond 
but  hinge  upon  the  greater  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  soul. 

It  is  asked  by  some:  "If  astronomers  have  such  perfect 
knowledge  in  spiritual  life,  and  are  able  by  their  spiritual 
telescopes,  fashioned  of  perception  and  thought,  to  perceive 
more  of  the  principles  of  astronomical  science,  why  do  they 
not  reveal  it  to  mortals  ?"  Why ,  indeed !  Are  there  any  astron- 
omers in  the  schools  of  science  on  earth— at  Harvard,  at  Cam- 
bridge, at  any  of  the  scientific  European  Universities — who 
would  be  willing  to  receive  a  thought  from  the  departed 
Herschel,  or  any  whose  names  shine  out  in  grandeur  in  the 
astronomical  world  ?  Are  they  not  so  jealous  of  their  own 
discoveries  that  if  a  spirit  were  to  give  them  knowledge  con- 
cerning another  planet,  would  they  not  hold  it  and  claim  it  as 
their  own,  unwilling  that  there  should  be  a  dead  astronomer 
who  could  aid  them  in  their  personal  explorations  '?  And  if 
there  are  found  those  who  are  willing,  have  they  not  given  to 
the  world  the  result  of  the  inspiration  that  has  been  given  to 
them,  and  fed  their  own  souls  on  the  thoughts  that  had  been 
given  them,  until  by  degrees  they  have  been  taught  farther 
and  farther  in  the  astronomy  of  the  heavens,  and  shown  the 
wonders  that  the  world  was  not  ready  to  receive  ? 

Do  not  ask  of  that  of  which  you  know  nothing.  Spirits 
cannot  teach  the  astronomy  of  the  heavens  until  you  are  will- 
ing to  learn  that  the  heavens  are  there.  When  you  are,  then 
the  celestial  imagery  will  all  flow  towards  you,  and  like  him 
who  toils  willingly,  all  things  in  nature  assist  him.  The 
birds  sing  for  him,  the  waters  murmur  for  him,  the  breezes 
fan  his  brow,  while  to  the  complaining  spirit  nothing  conies. 
So  do  not  ask  why  they  do  not  bring  these  truths  that  shall 
startle  the  world,  but  be  in  a  condition  to  receive  any  truth; 
for  the  simple  acknowledgment  of  spiritual  knowledge  must 
come  before  you  are  ready  to  receive  any  more.     ■ 

In  reference  to  chemical  and  physical  science,  those  who 
have  applied  their  lives  to  the  discovery  of  the  primal  sources 
of  life,  why  do  they  not  tell  us  something  more  of  protoplasm, 
cells,  organic  processes,  atoms,  and  the  primates  of  existence  ? 
Why  do  they  not  ?     There  are  the  different  schools  of  science 


52 

quarreling  with  one  another  on  a  subject  that  they  know  not, 
and  in  the  midst  of  this  a  little  child  might  rise  upon  this  plat- 
form, giving  knowledge  of  chemical  principles,  and  no  man 
of  science,  unless  he  is  a  Spiritualist,  would  have  the  courage 
to  acknowledge  it  to  be  true.  If  a  Spiritualist,  then  the  whole 
scientific  world  cry  out,  as  they  did  against  Zollner,  as  they  did 
against  Mr.  Crookes,  and  Mr.  Wallace,  "  But  they  are  only 
enthusiasts!"  When  the  world  is  ready  for  spiritual  truth  all 
other  things  will  follow;  but  you  must  have  the  spiritual  dispo- 
sition to  accredit  it  to  the  source  from  whence  it  comes  ;  for 
such  is  the  nature  of  spiritual  truth  that  it  must  come  first, 
and  the  knowledge  of  science  and  worldy  things  comes  after. 

Did  not  Jesus  say  to  his  disciples :  ' '  Seek  first  the  Kingdom 
of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you  "?  And  has  not  this  been  preverted  and  mis- 
used ? 

It  is  not  possible  that  from  spiritual  sources  there  shall 
flow  material  knowledge  toward  man  that  is  of  any  great  and 
important  value  until  the  spiritual  source  is  acknowledged. 
You  cannot  win  gold  nor  discover  precious  stones  by  using  the 
instruments  of  the  spirit  world,  and  then  deny  the  source  from 
whence  they  come.  You  must  turn  to  the  spirit,  seeking  first 
its  light,  its  methods,  its  power  ;  and  as  the  grandeur  of  a 
truly  noble  nature  draws  all  things  toward  it  by  its  wonder- 
ful power,  so  knowledge,  science,  art,  mechanics,  chemistry 
and  astronomy  are  the  results  of  spiritual  perception,  but 
they  cannot  be  taken  by  themselves  while  denying  the  other. 

We  have  known  young  men  and  young  women  who  said; 
"Oh,  if  Spiritualism  teaches  us  the  knowledge  of  history,  I 
would  like  to  be  a  medium."  We  beg  pardon;  but  you  cannot 
seek  Spiritualism  for  the  knowledge  of  history;  jou  must  seek 
it  for  itself,  and  if  the  knowledge  of  history  comes  to  you  after- 
wards, it  comes  by  means  of  that  spiritual  gift  which  you 
freely  accept  and  freely  acknowledge.  But  to  seek  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  for  the  sake  of  any  utility  that  it  brings,  is 
just  as  barren  a  device  as  to  seek  it  for  your  own  selfish  enjoy- 
ments. Intellectual  power  in  spiritual  ways  is  the  result  of 
an  intuition  and  culture  that  must  belong  to  your  ready 
accordance  with  the  sources  from   whence  it  comes;  and  you 


53 

might  just  as  well  say,  I  will  have  knowledge  of  chemistry, 
of  mechanics,  or  mathematics,  but  I  will  noi  have  any  of  the 
requisite  study  for  it.  That  is  to  say,  you  would  like  to  have 
it  from  spiritual  ways,  and  still   not  begin  at  the  beginning. 

The  royal  road  to  knowledge  which  is  given  to  seers, 
prophets  and  inspired  mediums,  is  not  a  road  unaccom- 
panied by  growth  or  spiritual  unfoldment;  nor  is  it  unaccom- 
panied by  anything  that  the  world  calls  sacrifice.  There 
must  be  a  willingness  to  receive,  there  must  be  a  consciousness 
of  the  higher  power  that  comes.  He  who  denies  the  giver 
but  accepts  the  gift  is  the  most  arrant  coward  of  all. 

Spiritual  employments,  therefore,  come  to  you  according 
to  your  need.  If  there  are  those  ready  on  the  earth  to  receive 
an  added  invention,  a  new  application  of  steam  or  electricity, 
it  must  come  to  them  in  some  such  a  way  as  that  we  have 
mentioned,  but  it  does  not  come  in  demand  to  a  popular  cla- 
mor, not  through  something  that  you  call  practical.  Is  it 
not  better  that  the  man  of  toil  shall  be  taught  that  he  is  an 
immortal  soul,  and  that  we  will  aid  his  hand  to  do  the  daily 
task,  than  to  take  the  spade  from  his  hands  and  do  the  labor 
for  him?  Is  it  not  better  if  infused  into  the  life  of  humanity 
shall  come  the  central  idea  of  spiritual  employment,  which  is 
neither  selfish  or  toiling  for  itself,  but  forever  pours  out  its 
light  and  love  and  labor  upon  others  ?  Is  not  this  better  than 
that  which  would  give  you  the  knowledge  to  usurp  the  right 
of  your  neighbor '? — to  give  an  especial  knowledge  or  power, 
without  the  light  and  spirit  to  know  the  sources  from  whence 
it  came?  Ah!  the  eye  that  is  blind  to  the  sunshine,  the  ear 
that  is  deaf  to  music,  is  certainly  a  pitiable  thing;  but  more 
pitiable  is  a  life  that  is  barren  of  that  spiritual  perception 
to  know  that  if  blessings  come,  they  come,  neither  blindly 
nor  from  the  earth,  but  from  intelligent,  conscious,  active. 
loving,  useful  lives,  that  are  above  you. 

I  pray  you  remember  the  loving  hands  that  were  accus- 
tomed to  labor  for  you  on  earth;  the  mother  whose  labors  were 
never  ended;  the  sister  who  hovers  around  you  as  she  did  in 
earthly  life,  making  smooth  all  the  ways  and  pleasant  all  the 
places  where  you  tread;  and  then  think  if  in  spirit  life  there 
is  aught  that  they  can  do  in  any  way  to  assist  you,  could 
(12) 


54 

they  refrain  from  that  doing  ?  But  they  cannot  do  it,  save  in 
the  way  that  we  have  mentioned.  The  mother  will  still  labor, 
but  instead  of  weary  hands  and  weary  feet,  unacknowledged 
by  you,  she  must  come  in  response  fco  your  love;  she  must 
brood  around  you,  and  assist  you  in  the  perilous  paths  of  life 
by  your  own  aspirations  and  prayers.  You  shut  out  the  loving 
labor  of  spirits  to  aid  you  when  you  shut  up  your  lives  from 
their  conscious  presence,  and  your  aspirations  and  your  mem- 
ories from  thinking  of  them. 

Oh,  your  spirit  mother  toils!  But  if  you  are  not  in  a  con- 
dition to  receive  her  ministration,  if  there  is  darkness  and 
rebellion  in  your  soul,  she  still  shines  upon  you  all  the  same; 
her  hands  are  still  moving  around  you,  and  in  some  hour, 
perchance  of  outward  unconsciousness,  she  is  able  to  reach 
you. 

Talk  of  there  not  being  employment  in  spirit  life  !  Why, 
you  consider  that  you  are  busy  here;  but  if  every  thought  that 
you  can  think,  every  aspiration  that  you  can  have,  every  hope 
that  you  can  desire,  and  every  lofty  purpose  that  you  have 
ever  dreamed,  were  utilized  and  rendered  practical  the  instant 
they  were  thought,  would  not  your  days  be  more  busy? 
Would  there  not  be  crowded  into  one  life,  what  now  a  thous- 
and lives  contain  ?  Such  is  occupation  in  spirit  life  that 
absence  of  thought,  absence  of  love,  constitutes  idleness;  and 
he  who  seeks  for  idleness  here,  must  begin  with  the  labor  of 
helping  those  whom  he  has  robbed  of  their  rest  and  their 
needed  recreation  on  earth.  The  millionaire  who  toils  to  be 
great  in  his  sphere,  yet  whose  labor  is  concentrated  on  self 
alone,  soon  discovers  that  he  is  but  weaving  ropes  of  sand  in 
spirit  life.  Let  no  one  here,  be  he  merchant,  be  he  speculator, 
be  he  financier,  imagine  that  he  can  have  valuable  assistance 
from  Vanderbilts  and  Peabodys,  or  others  who  represented  the 
moneyed  influence  of  their  time.  Bopes  of  sand  that  pass 
into  and  out  of  their  hands  are  the  measure  of  their  material 
power  in  spiritual  states;  and  however  much  they  may  come 
in  psychological  influence  with  those  who  are  still  engaged 
in  similar  pursuits  on  earth,  spiritually  they  are  valueless  to 
aid  them. 

But  they  can    aid  the  thousands   of  poor   mechanics  and 


55 

artisans,  whom  their  greed  and  the  influence  of  their  mono- 
polies have  impoverished.  They  can  aid  some  poor  man 
whose  family  is  starving  from  the  result  of  their  speculation 
and  the  hardships  endured  thereby.     They  can  aid  those  who 

are  inmates  of  the  almshouse  and  the  insane  asylum  as  the 
result  of  intrigue  and  dishonesty  practiced  in  boards  of  trade 
and  stock  exchanges.  They  can  aid  those  who,  perchance,  arc 
doomed  to  eight,  ten,  twelve  or  sixteen  hours  of  physical  labor 
a  day,  because  of  the  small  pittance  that  was  stolen  from  them 
under  the  name  of  speculation.  If  you  wish  to  see  them  now 
in  their  spiritual  occupations,  you  will  neither  find  them  where 
railroad  mag-nates  meet,  nor  where  financiers  in  this  country 
seek  to  still  doubly  bind  the  burdens  upon  the  poor,  nor  in 
the  haunts  where  those  assemble  who  would  strive  to  hold 
within  their  iron  grasp  the  lives  and  earnings  of  the  toiler; 
but  having  found  that  what  they  had  was  valueless,  you  will 
find  them  confounding  and  scattering  and  disturbing  all  these 
financial  elements,  and  seeking  to  undo  by  individual  effort 
on  behalf  of  those  whom  they  have  wronged  while  on  earth. 
You  will  find  them  building  up  the  railways  of  spiritual  life 
by  lines  of  sympathy  and  love;  you  will  find  them  concen- 
trating the  sublime  power  of  spiritual  existence  by  confound  in, Li- 
the financial  power  on  earth;  you  will  find  them  now,  (because 
such  men  are  endowed  with  perception  and  intelligence,) 
active  in  proportion  as  they  labored  here  with  the  whole 
strength  of  their  intellect,  yet  unconsciously  inflicting  wrongs. 

So,  when  placed  face  to  face  with  the  problems  of  life, 
you  will  find  them,  not  for,  but  against  those  who  injure  and 
oppress  humanity  ;  unless  indeed  the  selfishness  be  so  deep 
and  so  inground  that  there  is  no  power  to  aid  a  single  soul. 
Then  they  appeal  to  you,  and  not  you  to  them.  Should  you 
receive  an  answer  from  such  a  spirit  to  your  financial  claims. 
have  pity  on  them  ;  for  he  has  not  so  much  gold  dust  as  would 
make  the  smallest  wing  of  a  butterfly  ;  he  has  not  so  much 
power  as  the  little  child  that  can  coin  hisses  out  of  the  sun- 
shine and  weave  them  into  your  lives. 

Pity  those  who,  having  no  employment  in  spirit  life,  have 
none  because  they  are  too  selfish,  for  such  is  the  most  sorrowful 
condition.      Upon  these  the  fires  of  Gehenna  would  almost 


56 

seem  to  be  a  relief  for  that  consuming  shadow,  unsatisfied 
longing,  that  finds  nothing  to  do  when  ushered  into  the  great 
kingdom  of  activities  which  the  spirit  enters  through  death. 
Those  activities  are  so  much  greater  than  those  of  earth,  that  one 
moment  of  earthly  time  often  witnesses  in  spiritual  life  the 
accomplishment  of  real  labor  that  is  equal  to  a  century  of 
earth  ;  and  into  the  various  days  or  periods  of  spiritual  states 
are  concentrated  thoughts,  powers,  feelings  and  activities  that 
stretch  far  and  far  into  eternity — busy  forever  with  the  great 
tide  of  life,  and  thought,  and  love  that  moves,  and  sways,  and 
surges  around  them. 

Yours  is  a  laggard  world  ;  yours  is  the  unemployed  state. 
Your  sheaves  of  golden  grain,  that  you  wait  for  the  sun  to 
ripen,  are  more  typical  of  the  activities  of  spirit  life  than  all 
the  labors,  oftentimes,  of  your  hands,  and  vet  you  must  labor 
in  your  own  way.  And  as  little  children  would  fain  help 
mamma  keep  house  ;  as  boys  would  help  the  father  at  the  plow 
or  the  anvil — hindering  all  the  time — so  in  the  employments  of 
earthly  life  you  may  not  hinder  the  Divine  Parent,  but  you  may 
frequently  blot  out  the  higher  employment  of  the  spirit  by  your 
insistance  upon  making  that  which  is  beyond  like  the  employ- 
ment of  earth. 

Thank  heaven  for  all  your  disappointments  ;  thank  heaven 
for  that  which  does  not  come  in  answer  to  your  desire,  for  it 
is  the  more  sure  to  come  in  answer  to  your  need;  and  in  the 
great  employment  of  the  spirit  you  gain  in  the  wealth  of  the 
soul  what  you  are  erlad  to  lose  in  the  wealth  of  earth. 

i  O 


57 


Occupation  of 
Geniuses  in  Spirit  I^lfcJJ 


As  stated  in  our  last  lecture,  the  idea  in  human  life  of 
employment  is  something  that  occupies  the  hands  and  must 
belong  to  material  subsistence;  yet  more  than  three-fourths  of 
the  employments  of  earthly  life  are  those  that  have  their  origin 
in  the  mind,  and  must  be  goverened  by  intelligence  in  order 
to  go  forward  successfully.  Indeed,  so  feeble  and  impotent  is 
the  physical  form  of  man,  that  without  the  aid  of  this  surpas- 
sing intelligence  the  child  is  most  helpless  of  human  beings; 
the  most  unprotected  of  all  created  things.  But  by  intelli- 
gence man  achieves  victories  over  his  physical  surroundings; 
makes  the  forest  trees  to  bend  to  his  shelter;  the  stone  from 
the  quarries  to  fashion  his  dwelling;  the  clay  of  earth  to  be 
constructed  into  habitations,  and  all  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
sea,  and  the  wide-spread  heavens,  to  minister  to  his  wants; 
while  the  products  of  the  earth,  carefully  cultivated  by  his 
hand,  not  only  minister  to  his  actual  necessities,  but  feed  the 
more  luxurious  tastes,  pander  to  the  appetites  that,  perhaps, 
it  were  better  not  to  satisfy. 

In  the  realm  of  intellect,  genius  holds  sway.  It  is  the 
inventive  genius  that  fills  the  earth  with  mechanical  appli- 
ances to  overcome  the  necessary  drudgery  of  the  hand -labor, 
and  it  is  the  skilled  laborer  that  demands  the  highest  price  for 
his  toil;  and  it  is  the  inventor  that  finally  benefits  his  kind 
by  uplifting  toil  to  the  realm  of  intelligence,  instead  of  phy- 
sical labor.  And  while,  as  we  said  in  our  last  lecture,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  certain  employment  of  the  physical  is  nec- 
essary for  the  well-being  of  all  people,  still  that  unequal  distri- 
bution of  toil  which  is  upon  the  earth  to-day  must  sooner  or 
later  give  place  to  a  wider  and  broaded  humanity  that  will  con- 
template the  intellectual  and  spiritual  needs,  while  the  bodily 
labor  is  performed  by  adequate  machinery  and  equal  distribu- 
tion. 

Geniuses  are  the  prophecies  of  mankind,  illustrating  what 
(13) 


58 

all  human  life  may  one  day  become,  when  ignorance,  poverty, 
degradation,  pride  and  all  sin  have  been  overcome.  Nay,  they 
oftentimes  teach  another  lesson:  that  if  one  is  only  great  in 
one  direction  of  intellect,  and  if  there  is  not  corresponding 
spiritual  growth  and  moral  unfoldment,  the  genius  is  barren 
of  fruits  as  Dead  Sea  waters,  giving  nothing  in  return.  The 
genius  who  is  truly  such  must  be  one  whose  heart  is  in  sym- 
pathy with  his  kind,  whose  spirit  is  responsive  to  human 
sympathy,  and  who,  when  he  gives  his  gifts  to  the  world  does 
not  seek  a  selfish  return;  but  only  as  the  flower  blossoms  to 
shed  its  fragrance,  or  the  star  shines  because  it  must,  so  does 
the. genius  express  himself  because  he  needs  must  do  so. 

"In  spiritual  existence,"  you  ask  me,  "how  can  the 
sculptor  carve  statues  out  of  empty  air,  if  there  is  no  substan- 
tial material  on  which  he  can  exercise  his  genius  ?"  Have  you 
never  thought,  while  gazing  upon  a  statue,  that  the  object  of 
carving  it  was  to  bring  the  sculptor's  genius  within  the  grasp 
of  human  comprehension,  and  make  you  aware  of  the  image 
that  was  in  his  mind  ?  If,  by  the  gracious  law  of  spiritual 
sympathy  and  the  exaltation  of  your  comprehension,  you 
were  able  to  perceive  the  image  perfect  and  beautiful  in  his 
spirit,  would  not  that  be  still  greater  satisfaction  ?  For  there 
might  be  a  flaw  or  speck  upon  the  marble;  there  might  be  a 
faint  outline  that  is  unsatisfactory  to  the  sculptor;  but  in  the 
image  of  the  mind,  were  you  able  to  perceive  it,  there  stands 
the  object,  Faith,  Hope,  or  Love,  or  whatever  quality  the  mar- 
ble is  intended  to  portray,  with  diviner  perfection. 

Besides  this,  art  is  not  simply  that  stones  shall  speak 
and  curves  portray  the  image,  but  that  the  voice  of  Art  shall 
speak  to  others'  intelligence,  other  lives,  other  beings  than  the 
artist's.  If  you  have  a  thought  beautiful,  perfect,  saci'ed,  di- 
vine, you  would  fain  impart  it  to  one  you  love;  and  if  there  is 
no  manner  of  reaching  that  one  by  your  thought  than  that  of 
carefully  selected  words,  with  a  poem  of  your  choice,  with 
flowers  that  could  breathe  the  divine  message,  or  some  pure 
image  that  would  give  to  that  loved  one  your  thought,  it  is 
not  the  form  that  conveys  it,  but  the  thought  that  is  divine. 
And  when  in  most  sacred  hours  of  communion,  your  dearest 
and  best  beloved  is  able  to  perceive  your  thoughts,  to  feel  and 


59 

understand  what  you  think,  and  if  without  words,  how  much 
more  soul  satisfying  it  is;  how  much  more  than  empty  sound, 
since  you  are  conscious  of  the  possession  of  their  thought  in 
the  realm  of  the  spirit;  how  much  more  satisfying  than  that 
condition  which  must  still  have  graven  images  and  carved 
statues,  and  must  still  rely  upon  painted  pictures  for  the 
expression  of  light,  and  thought,  and  genius. 

An  artist  is  surrounded  with  his  own  creations.  The 
subtle  atmosphere  of  spirit-life  portrays  unto  the  one  approach- 
ing the  artist  the  nature  of  the  sphere  which  he  inhabits.  If 
you  expect  to  see  Raphael,  not  only  surrounded  by  the  sweet 
Madonnas  that  he  painted,  but  with  the  loftier  and  diviner 
art  of  his  genius,  you  will  find  him  ensphered  not  alone  in 
the  faces  of  exquisite  pictures  that  shine  out  in  memory  and 
make  Italy  immortal,  but  ensphered  in  a  far  more  dear  and 
sacred  love — the  face  of  the  one  who  inspired  him  ;  the  form 
of  the  child  that  was  the  model  for  the  infant  Jesus,  and  the 
light  of  eyes  that  shone  upon  him  during  the  years  of 
his  labor  and  exalted  his  genius  to  that  which  was  angelic 
and  godlike.  Those  ensphered  lives,  and  not  pictures,  become 
the  objects  of  his  portrayal;  and  wheresoever  a  heart  has  been 
touched  by  the  imagery  of  his  art,  there  is  painted  a  sacred 
and  living  image  in  his  spiritual  habitation.  If  you,  gazing 
with  transport  upon  the  Madonnas,  have  lifted  your  thoughts 
to  the  ophere  of  art  which  he  inhabits,  then  that  thought  is 
immortalized;  that  praise  becomes  his  picture;  that  loving 
remembrance  one  of  the  images  enshrined  in  the  temple  of 
his  life;  and  pouring  the  sphere  of  his  genius  over  the  aspi- 
rations of  the  earth  not  only  kindles  the  love  of  form,  and 
color,  and  shapely  beauty,  but  love  of  love — a  ti'ue  love  of  that 
which  is  divine,  which  is  more  than  art,  which  is  the  eternal 
soul  of  genius. 

If  in  reading  Dante  the  divine  drama  is  portrayed  upon 
your  vision  with  the  distinct  and  wonderful  differences  in  spirit- 
ual states;  if  you  have  sympathy  with  those  in  darkness,  with 
those  in  purgatory;  if  you  have  with  those  in  paradise  tasted 
the  light  of  immortality,  then  remember  that  by  that  divine  and 
sacred  image,  Beatrice,  he  led  you  through  the  vision  of  para- 
dise that  he  might  give  the  lessons  of  his  triumph  to  the 
world. 


60 

So  are  you  admitted  to  the  sanctuary  of  the  greatest  genius 
— divine  and  exalted  love.  That  is  more  than  the  portrayal, 
more  than  the  language  of  suffering,  more  than  the  darkness 
of  purgatory,  more  than  the  light  of  paradise — it  is  heaven 
itself.  And  remember  that  whatever  value  there  may  be  to  the 
written  poem  on  earth,  it  falls  to  lifeless  clay  compared  to  the 
image  of  that  soul  that  could  create  the  poem,  understand  the 
scenes  of  spiritual  and  angelic  states,  and  exalt  the  White 
Rose  of  Love  to  the  sanctity  of  heaven. 

Geniuses  !  Yes,  their  work  is  to  mold  the  human  thoughts 
and  souls,  and  make  them  fittingly  to  be  the  temples  of 
immortal  life.  Geniuses — not  Michael  Angelo  in  Rome,  pic- 
turing the  image  of  St.  Peters,  whose  dome  was  to  rest  among 
the  clouds  while  the  foundation  rested  upon  the  earth — but 
Michael  Angelo  in  the  spheres  of  Truth  and  Love,  exalting 
human  thoughts  and  cares  to  be  portions  of  the  goodly  tem- 
ple of  humanity  and  of  immortal  life  ;  carving  out  of  the 
dull  material  of  human  dross  the  divine  forms,  the  thought 
and  aspiration  that  are  to  make  whole  and  complete  this 
temple  of  humanity.  Images  of  beauty  portrayed  in  human 
lives,  aspirations  kindled  in  sluggish  hearts,  longings  to  labor 
for  humanity  in  the  lives  of  the  selfish,  and  the  vanquishment 
of  passion,  hatred  and  scorn.  Methinks  this  is  better  art 
than  St.  Peters.  The  pyramids  of  Egypt  finally  give  way  to 
the  vanquishment  of  time,  and  the  splendors  of  the  ancient 
cities  are  past  and  forgotten,  but  humanity  lives  in  the  strong- 
holds of  the  spirit,  fastened  and  secured  by  prophecy  and 
genius,  fulfilled  in  the  greater  part  by  the  work  and  thought 
of  their  lives. 

So  the  genius  of  the  inventors,  gliding  behind  the  mere 
mechanical  structure  of  the  universe,  express  their  thoughts 
forward  for  humanity;  perceive  the  motor  powers  that  are  still 
further  to  uplift  vou  from  the  dull  tread-mill  of  toil,  light  the 
beacon  fires  that  are  to  illumine  the  darkened  places  of  earth. 

If  one  has  genius  for  invention,  not  only  is  the  principle 
of  that  invention  perceived  in  spiritual  states,  but  the  appli- 
cation also.  It  only  remains  for  earthly  minds  to  be  exalted 
to  receive  the  impressions  of  the  mechanical  structiu-e  before 
the  structure  is  complete  on  earth.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the 


61 

spiritual  inventor,  or  the  one  in  spirit  life,  shall  sec  any  tan- 
gible form  or  fulfillment  of  his  invention,  because  he  knows, 
by  the  perception  of  the  principle,  that  it  will  be  correct.  It 
is  only  when  you  approach  inventions  from  the  material  side, 
from  the  side  of  experiment,  from  the  side  of  bungling  con- 
struction, that  you  are  obliged  to  test  their  capacity. 

As  mathematics  was  the  sure  key  to  the  construction  of 
the  solar  system,  and  long  before  his  telescope  was  fashioned 
that  could  enable  him  to  see  the  planet  that  he  had  discovered, 
Herschel  knew  it  was  there  by  the  law  of  mathematics,  just 
so  the  inventor,  perceiving  the  principle  correctly,  is  not  obli- 
ged to  stumble  and  blunder  in  his  application  when  he  per- 
ceives it  from  the  spiritual  side  of  life.  Jnst  as  surely  did 
Edison  perceive  the  principle  of  electricity  in  the  nature  of  the 
experiments  he  was  to  fashion,  but  could  not  perfect  the  idea 
except  in  conformity  of  the  method  now  employed  ;  while 
knowing  the  principle  correct,  was  obliged  to  test  through  the 
bungling  process  of  human  experiment  that  which  was  cer- 
tainty in  his  thought. 

After  a  time,  when  you  turn  more  distinctly  to  the  spirit- 
ual source  of  your  inventions  ;  when  you  believe  more  that 
the}7  are  directly  intended,  instead  of  the  result  of  accident  ; 
when  you  comprehend  more  that  man  does  not  make  his  dis- 
coveries, but  that  they  are  waiting  for  him  ;  when  you 
realize  that  all  that  is  possible  to  attain  in  the  wray  of  science 
is  waiting  in  the  atmosphere  above  and  around  you,  you  will 
then  realize  that  geniuses  in  spirit-life  have  but  to  perceive 
the  truth— not  to  make  it ;  but  to  discover  where  the  law  is— 
not  to  alter  it.  That  is  the  only  work  of  geniuses  in  the 
universe. 

Poets  do  not  make  poetry  ;  they  simply  arrive  at  the 
state  wherein  the  poems  of  the  universe  are  written  in  the 
soul.  Inventors  do  not  make  machinery;  they  simply  arrive 
at  that  portion  of  the  great  universal  soul  where  the  principles 
of  life  exist,  and  the  language  or  alphabet  for  their  expression 
in  human  form  is  the  machinery  that  finally  is  applied  to 
human  uses. 

The  philosophers  of  the  ancient  days  were  not  so  far  out 
of  the  way  after  all,  since  they  found  that  he  who  discovers 
(14) 


62 

the  true  principle  of  life  is  above  all  external  application  of  it. 
And  why  not  ?  The  greatest  conquest  of  the  martyrs  was  not 
simply  to  know  the  truth  and  be  willing  to  express  it,  but  if 
needs  be,  to  be  willing  t'o  die  for  it.  For  what  is  human  life 
in  the  physical  compared  to  the  truth  that  is  immortal? 
Both  ways  —  the  utility  of  the  modern  thought  and  the 
grandeur  of  the  ancient  philosophy — might  clasp  hands  ;  for 
as  labor  is  exalted  by  genius,  so  those  who  are  in  the  trammels 
of  labor  come  to  understand  the  meaning  of  genius,  and  live 
in  an  atmosphere  that  is  not  so  dependent  upon  the  daily 
need.  As  he  who  can  think  of  nothing  else  but  food  must  needs 
have  food  more  frequently,  so  he  who  lives  in  another  atmos- 
phere only  can  feed  his  body  for  the  uses  of  the  soul. 

Genius,  therefore,  is  employed  in  spirit-life  in  perceiving 
its  own  ;  in  dwelling  in  the  atmosphere  which  is  adapted  to 
its  expression,  and  in  imparting  that  atmosphere  to  others.  It 
is  not  the  imparting  of  a  distinct  method  that  constitutes  the 
true  discovery  and  the  true  inspiration  of  earth.  You  do  not 
want  formulas  so  much  as  ideas  ;  you  are  not  in  need  so  much 
of  mechanism  as  of  principles.  The  mechanism  will  follow 
when  the  principles  are  perceived. 

As  stated  in  our  last  discourse,  astronomy,  geology,  chem- 
istry, and  the  various  sciences,  as  applied  to  daily  life,  are  not 
to  come  to  you  by  the  royal  road  of  being  dictated  step  by 
step,  construction  by  construction,  without  your  turning  to 
the  sources  from  whence  they  come  ;  and  no  genius  in  spirit 
state  can  come  to  your  household  to  say  :  "  This  is  the  way  to 
make  money  ;  this  is  the  way  to  discover  the  stars  ;  this  is  the 
correct  chemical  combination  that  you  require,"  until  you 
have  taken  the  intermediate  steps — until  you  have  turned 
toward  the  spiritual  source,  and  say,  "  I  need  the  aid,  and 
the  guidance,  and  influence  of  spiritual  powers." 

There  are  several  classes  of  people  in  the  world  who  con- 
fess to  this  superior  power,  notably  actors.  And  why  ?  Be- 
cause they  live  in  the  realm  that  is  not  formal,  not  me- 
chanical— for  it  is  dependent  upon  genius  for  its  perfect  por- 
traiture. No  merely  mechanical  actor  can  ever  succeed,  and 
the  subtle  line  of  genius  that  causes  them  to  be  dependent 
upon  inspiration  is  perceived  by  every  one  endowed  with  that 
gift.      You  may  ask  them  ;  they  will  acknowledge  it. 


63 

Jefferson,  in  his  portraiture  of  his  master-piece,  was  dis- 
tinctly conscious  of  the  influence  of  his  father.  In  an  article 
published  several  years  ago  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  it  was 
stated  that  he  was  frequently  unconscious,  performing  the 
part  in  a  trance  during  the  entire  portrayal.  Edwin  Booth 
often  felt  the  distinct  presence  of  his  deceased  father.  So 
accustomed  are  actors  and  actresses  of  the 'very  first  genius  to 
rely  upon  this  power,  that  they  believe  as  distinctly  as  possi- 
sible  in  the  ever-present  watchfulness  of  those  who  are  their 
guardian  spirits  in  that  direction. 

Poets,  more  than  other  men,  expect  the  presence  of  this 
pervading  spirit  when  they  write  ;  and  they  will  tell  you  they 
cannot  write  poems  to  order  ;  that  there  must  be  the  inspi- 
ration ;  that  they  must  feel  like  it.  But  this  often  extends  to 
the  conscious  presence  of  the  guardian  or  guarding  genius; 
as  in  the  case  of  Dante,  the  divine  Beatrice  dictated  the  words 
of  the  poem. 

In  the  realm  of  painting  or  sculpture,  more  mechanical  in 
themselves  than  the  arts  that  we  have  named,  there  will 
almost  always  be  found  accompanying  the  genius  that  subtle 
gift  of  inspiration  that  works  under  the  o'ermasterful  and 
dominant  influence  of  a  propelling  power  that  cannot  be 
forced,  that  will  not  be  governed,  but  will  make  itself  mani- 
fest when  the  gleaming  light  comes  from  within. 

Certain  professions  in  human  life — the  lawyers,  the  doc- 
tors, and   others — are  less  inspired,  for  the  reason  that  their 
gifts  belong  to  the  mechanical  and  external  uses  of  life.     The 
lawyers — save  in  cases  of  transcendent  humanity,  where  some 
human   life  is  in  peril,  where  before  the  cold  judicial  tribunal 
some  innocent  victim  is  to  be  sacrificed — can  have  but  little 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  that  divine  gift.     Precedent, 
legal   formulas,  must  take  the  place   of  inspiration.     But  the 
pleader,  he  who  stands  at  the  bar,  can  often  secure  by  his  very 
genius  the  triumph  of  his  client  when  law  is  on  the  other  side. 
Fortunately,    this    is  sometimes   employed    on  behalf   of 
humanity,    and  in  such   cases  geniuses  of  good   smile  down 
from   the  azure  heights  that  there  is  a  power  in  human  elo- 
quence to  triumph  over  legal  formulas. 

In  the  case  of  the  physician  (which  should  be  by  a  divine 


64 

gift)  there  is  less  inspiration  in  Materia  Medica  than  almost  in 
any  school  of  human  profession.  From  the  days  of  iEscula- 
pins  down  to  the  present  time,  less  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  formulas  of  medicine.  And  yet  even  here  there  has  been 
room  for  the  corroding  influence  of  the  past  to  be  penetrated 
by  the  light  of  inspiration.  Genius  has  usurped  the  dull, 
external  touch  of  the  merely  skillful  physician,  and  where  pres- 
idents are  allowed  to  be  murdered  by  science,  ordinary  citizens 
are  privileged  to  recover  by  clairvoyance.  Such  is  the  tri- 
umph that  will  eventually  come  to  the  world,  that  skilled 
practice,  which  is  external,  will  but  supplement  the  percep- 
tion of  the  clairvoyant,  and  the  surgeon  will  but  be  the  ser- 
vant of  the  penetrating  eye  which  says  :  "  Cut  or  probe  there," 
from  the  certainty  of  clairvoyant  vision,  but  not  probe  inches 
and  inchfes  from  the  dull  blindness  of  material  science  or 
incapacity. 

The  geniuses  in  the  pulpit  are  so  few  and  so  marked  that 
you  can  count  them;  and  all  of  the  success  which  clergymen 
have  encountered  or  attained  for  the  last  two  thousand  y-ears 
is  owing  to  genius.  The  ordinary  school  of  theology  deals  out 
nothing  upon  the  world,  save  the  dull  tread-mill  of  creed  and 
formula.  But  here  and  there  spring  forth  such  as  Luther,  for  the 
Reformation,  Calvin,  Knox — each  in  their  way.  Unfortunate 
though  it  was  that  fear  was  a  prominent  element,  it  was  some- 
thing that  was  not  clothed  in  inertia.  And  these  geniuses, 
traced  down  by  a  direct  line,  can  be  counted  upon  the  fingers 
of  your  hand,  who  have  carried  forward  the  work  of  real  Chris- 
tian evangelization  in  the  world.  Those  who  stir  the  hearts  of 
their  people;  who  move  them  to  greater  affection;  who  lead  them 
to  higher  and  grander  contemplations,  step  out  from  the  creed 
and  formula  as  readily  and  distinctly  as  science  has  stepped 
out  from  the  dull,  flat  level  earth  before  Galileo,  anel  have 
marched  into  the  realm  of  the  stars  with  the  grand  motion  of 
the  firmament  above,  without  fear,  without  terror,  without 
trembling. 

So  have  the  Parkers,  the  Channings,  some  of  the  Beechers, 
and  others,  stepped  forward  into  the  light,  the  realm  of 
the  spirit,  fearlessly;  so  have  those  who  have  stirred  your 
own  lives  with  higher  religious  impulse  than  the  narrow  tram- 


65 

4 

mels  of  your  boyhood  and  girlhood.     These  have  conic  to  you 
with  the  genius,  with  the  inspiration;  these  have  marked  tin- 
religion  that  is  intended  for  humanity;  these  have  been  inspired 
for   you,  nOt    by  prophets   and    teachers   and    sages   of   old, 
not  from  Jerusalem,  not  from  Palestine   or  the   disciples  of 
Christ.     But  if  you  look  for  them  at  all  in  any  other  than  the 
grand  sphere  that  they  occupy  in  angelic  or  spiritiial  existence, 
look  for  them  in  the  lives  of  those  men  who  kindle  the  thought 
of  inspiration,  of  love  of  humanity;  who  teach  that  the  love  of 
God  is  found  in  your  love  of  one  another;   who  teach   you 
that  you  can  serve  God  best  by  serving  one  another.     Look 
for  them   not   with    harps   of  gold    in    fabled,    far-off   cities, 
but  look  for  them  in  the  daily  pathway  of   life  where  some 
strong  hand  is  needed,    some  loving   heart  to  show  humanity 
the  better  and  still  higher  way,   and  where,  overcoming  the 
strong  worldliness  and  materialism  of   the  present  time,  they 
have  the  courage  to  step  out  from  the  trammels  of  creed,  and 
declare  that  God  is  the  father  of  all  mankind.     Look  for  them 
there,  we   say,  and   then   you  will   see   what  the  geniuses  of 
religion  have  to  do  in  the  world  of  spirits — molding,  shaping, 
releasing  mankind  from  the  thralldom  of  creed  and  ritualism 
and  bondage,  to  the  light  of  inspiration  that  is  every  day  and 
every  hour  in  your  midst.     And    your  firesides  become  your 
altars,    your   children   your   prophets   and   counsellors,    and 
young  men  and  women  reared  up  to  teach  the  word  of  truth. 
Standing  above  convents,  above  all  institutions  of  theological 
learning,  the   spirit  of  inspiration  cleaves  a  pathway  through 
theology  to  your  thoughts,  and  makes  you  one  with  itself. 

Geniuses?  Yes!  They  smile  down  upon  you  from  the 
grandeur  of  the  height  that  they  have  attained.  And  if  the 
fierce  creed  of  Calvinism  met  with  a  rebuff  in  human  life,  so 
has  it  met  with  one  in  his  own  spiritual  life,  and  by  slow  yet 
careful  degrees  has  he  removed  the  great  agony  heaped  upon 
the  world  by  the  mistaken  formula  of  life. 

If  Wesley  beamed  benignly  on  his  people  in  the  midst  of 
the  fierce  flame  that  burned  around  him,  so  now  from  the  dis- 
tant yet  beauteous  light  of  his  home  he  kindles  the  pathway 
for  human  love  and  human  hope.  And  if  Theodore  Parker 
could  find  no  truth  and  nothing  to  serve  in  that  God  that  was 
(15) 


66 

a  God  of  terror,  and  that  Christ  that  could  smile  upon  human 
slavery,  think  not  that  from  the  light  which  his  angelic  home 
bestows  he  does  not  see  the  glory  of  inspiration  born  of  the 
highest  truth,  cleaving  the  dark  rock  asunder,  as  Moses  in 
the  wilderness  and  Christ  upon  Olivet.  These  breathe  out 
their  words  and  works  to  humanity  from  the  sphere  of  the 
spirit. 

More  than  this  :  The  Geniuses  of  the  Household,  the  lov- 
ing hands  and  patient  hearts  that  made  life  bearable,  that 
sanctified  the  fireside,  that  consecrated  it  in  memory  as  the 
most  sacred  of  all  places;  the  love  of  home,  and  the  altar 
there  ;  the  genius  of  the  mother's  love  ;  the  genius  of  the  sun- 
shine of  the  child  playing  about  you  with  ever-living,  ever- 
perfect  forms  of  love,  do  more  to  mold  your  lives,  to  shape 
your  aspirations,  to  govern  your  impulses  and  direct  them 
toward  the  truth  than  when  veiled  in  the  human  form  the 
weary  hands  were  often  powerless  to  toil,  and  the  weary  feet 
could  go  no  longer. 

Oh,  that  Genius  of  Love,  encircling  every  heart  and  every 
home  !  This  is  the  genius  that  dies  not,  but  lives  in  every  rever- 
ed and  sacred  image,  and  peoples  the  skies  with  the  wonderful 
employments  of  spirits  and  angels — the  employment  of  divine 
benefactions.  For  whosoever  can  bestow  most  of  love,  of 
thought,  of  truth,  of  purity,  he  is  the  foremost  laborer  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  Lord. 


67 


The  Condition  in  Spirit  [<ife 


OF    TIK'Sl- 


Afflicted  with  Kleptomania,  Lunacy 


AND    OTIIKK     KINDS    OF 


Mental  and  Moral  Disorders, 


The  spiritual  life  consists  of  states  and  conditions  rather 
than  locations,  places,  and  those  things  pertaining  to  time  and 
sense.  The  conditions  of  human  life  which  are  here  imperfect 
are  not  necessarily  changed  instantly  by  the  transition  called 
death;  and  he  who  supposes  that  he  will  escape  individually 
from  his  mental  or  moral  foibles  merely  by  the  hand  of  death, 
is  mistaken. 

The  conditions  of  human  life  present  a  most  singular  pic- 
ture to  one  viewing  them  from  spiritual  existence.  Physical 
infirmities  which  are  often  the  result  of  wanton  indulgence 
and  appetite,  and  in  nearly  every  instance  as  much  the  conse- 
quence of  individual  carelessness  and  reprehensible  selfishness 
as  are  the  moral  ills,  are  treated  with  the  greatest  tenderness 
and  the  greatest  skill  brought  to  bear  to  cure  them.  But  just 
so  soon  as  }'ou  enter  the  moral  realm,  as  soon  as  you  cross  the 
boundary  line  between  physical  infirmity  and  moral  ills,  no 
judgments  are  too  harsh,  no  censure  too  bitter;  and  not  only 
the  condemnation  and  censure,  but  the  hand  of  physical  law, 
and  that  which  is  misnamed  justice,  are  employed  to  put  out  of 
existence  the  moral  malefactor. 

There  are  no  forms  of  physical  disease  where  it  is  lawful 
to  put  a  man  to  death,  but  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  is 
visited  upon  the  extreme  moral  infirmity. 

In  spirit  life  this  certainly  is  not  reversed,  but  he  is  con- 
sidered more  unfortunate  who  is  morally  blind,  morally  deaf, 
or  morally  infirm  in  any  direction,  than  he  who  has  the  worst 
form  of  physical  disease;   for  the  physical  disease  is  of   the 


68 

body;  the  moral  disease  is  of  the  mind  and  spirit,  and  requires, 
such  physicians  as  are  capable  of  understanding  and  healing 
the  same.  Many  of  your  philanthropists,  to  their  credit  be  it 
said,  have  risen  above  the  trammels  of  narrow,  human  judg- 
ment and  the  coldness  of  narrow,  human  justice,  and  have 
applied  the  same  reasoning  to  moral  obliquity  and  mental  dis- 
eases that  they  apply  to  physical  diseases. 

Instead  of  jails  with  their  startling  and  fearful  revelations 
on  one  hand,  and  the  house  reared  in  the  name  of  Christ  on 
the  other,  there  should  be  moral  asylums  extending  their 
broad  and  sunny  corridors  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
your  land,  and  he  who  is  a  moral  delinquent  should  be  taken 
in  charge  by  the  moral  physicians  and  healed  of  his  infirmity. 

In  the  realm  of  the  spirit,  where  physical  life  and  human 
property  are  not  all  in  all;  where  the  thief  is  considered  as 
more  important  than  the  thieving,  and  the  murderer  more  im- 
portant than  the  murder;  where  the  laws  of  society  require 
that  souls  shall  be  pi'eserved  instead  of  lands,  dwelling  and 
gold,  the  question  at  issue  becomes  not  one  of  property  and 
physical  life,  but  one  of  moral  elevation  and  the  healing  or 
cure  of  mental  or  moral  maladies  that  undermine  the  well- 
being  of  society. 

Time  was  in  human  history  when  he  who  had  the  power 
to  govern,  with  a  sufficient  number  of  men  could  lawfully,  by 
the  might  which  was  called  right,  take  possession  of  neighbor- 
ing castles  and  estates.     This  was  the  law  of  feudal  times. 

Time  was  when  your  forefathers  were  plunderers  by  the 
very  right  of  their  physical  strength,  and  each  castle  was  a 
fortress,  and  every  ruler  of  a  petty  dukedom  a  highwayman. 
Time  is,  when  under  the  ban  of  the  law,  and  under  the  shel- 
tering care  of  the  judiciary,  you  are  allowed  to  perform  deeds 
that  would  seem  to  the  eye  of  the  spirit  like  highway  robbery; 
but  it  is  a  different  name,  which  comes  with  a  license  and  a 
permit  and  through  the  formula  of  legal  sanction.  In  the  eye 
of  the  spirit  it  is  none  the  less  the  law  of  might  instead  of  right. 

While  petty  criminals,  suffering  an  actual  disease,  are  i'e- 
legated  to  dungeon  cells,  this  crime  which  society  permits  re- 
ceives but  few  restraints,  and  there  are  few  who  stand  up  in 
the  place  of  God  and  censure  that  which  is  the  basis  of  the 
moral  obliquity  in  the  world. 


69 

The  kleptomaniac,  who  is  unfortunately  disposed  to  pos- 
sess him  or  herself  of  small  things  and  trifles  that  belong  to 
another,  if  it  extends  to  millions,  is  not  considered  a  thief  nor 
kleptomaniac,  but  it  is  only  a  natural  and  lawful  extension  of 
business  enterprise.  When  Christians,  and  in  this  utilitarian 
age  Christian  ministers  recognize  boards  of  trade,  stock 
exchanges,  as  legitimate  places  for  the  pursuit  of  business 
enterprise,  and  censure  gambling  hells  and  places  where  men, 
under  another  name,  practice  at  games  of  chance,  there  is  lit- 
tle opportunity  for  the  healer  to  be  abroad  in  the  world  who 
cures  mankind  of  the  fondness  for  extravagance  and  miracu- 
lous fortunes,  and  the  fondness  of  becoming  possessed,  at 
whatever  cost,  of  another's  wealth. 

The  sources  of  rivers  are  very  small.  They  are  scattered 
far  among  the  mountains,  and  rise  invisibly;  but  at  last  the 
stream  becomes  swollen,  and  in  times  of  deluge  the  valleys  are 
overflowed  and  great  destruction  ensues.  Every  one  depre- 
cates the  deluge,  but  no  one  pauses  to  study  the  unseen  and 
silent  mountain  stream.  In  human  society  that  which  crops 
out  in  crime  and  startles  communities  as  striking  instances  of 
moral  obliquity,  has  its  well  springs  and  sources  in  the  invis- 
ible. In  these  little,  small  springs  of  love  of  speculation;  in  this 
that  is  called  individual  enterprise;  in  that  Yankee  thrift  that 
over-rides  everything  and  seeks  the  almighty  dollar  at  what- 
ever cost;  in  that  Anglo-Saxon  ambition  that  over  sea  and  land 
seeks  to  extend  its  empire  though  nations  perish  and  though 
the  aborigines  are  wiped  out  by  the  hand  of  slaughter.  Re- 
member there  can  be  no  overflow  in  the  valleys  without  this 
delude  from  the  mountain  stream.  And  you  who  rest  secure- 
ly  in  your  particular  work,  conscious  perhaps  that  no  over- 
flow will  come,  may  be  startled  by  the  water-spout  that  bursts 
upon  your  hillside  ;  by  the  sudden  storm  that  innundates 
the  valley.  The  neighbor,  the  brother,  the  sister,  goes  astray 
without  seemingly  an  adequate  cause,  and  you  wonder  at  this; 
but  you  need  not  wonder.  The  whole  world  is  filled  with 
that  which  strikes  weak  natures  and  expresses  itself  in  them. 
You  may  be  strong  enough  to  withstand,  or  clever  enough  to 
conceal,  or  have  other  methods  of  evading  either  the  cause  or 
the  penalty  of  the  wrong  doing.  But  thieving,  as  such,  under 
(16) 


70 

the  bin  of  the  law  is  not  any  worse,  nor  can  it  in  the  eye  of 
the  spirit  be  viewed  differently,  than  that  which  receives  the 
sanction  of  the  law,  if  it  be  to  take  that  which  rightfully 
belongs  to  another  ;  and  until  this  is  rectified  there  can  be  no 
need  for  a  line  drawn  between  the  morally  good  and  the 
morally  evil  of  earth. 

The  words  of  Christ  pierced  the  scribes  and  pharisees  and 
hyprocrites  of  the  Jewish  dispensation  because  He  said:  "  He 
who  thinks  an  evil  hath  committed  it  already;  he  who  covets 
his  neighbor's  goods  hath  already  stolen;  and  he  who  is  angry 
with  his  brother  hath  already  committed  murder."  Do  you  not 
see  the  application,  that  in  the  spirit  it  is  not  the  deed  but 
the  thought;  it  is  not  the  expression  but  the  state? 

For  certain  orders  of  thievery,  the  world  has  been  con- 
strained to  admit  that  there  are  some  people  who  cannot  resist 
taking  that  which  is  not  their  own,  even  if  they  have  no  use 
for  it.  Extend  this  law  a  little  further  and  you  include  the 
whole  speculative  tendency  of  humanity,  a  tendency  that  is 
fostered  by  what  is  termed  "legitimate  business  enterprise." 
The  competition  in  trade  which  engenders  this  feeling  even  in 
the  boy  of  six  or  seven  years  of  age,  finally  extends  itself  in 
morbid  natures  to  take  things  whether  needed  or  not.  If 
man's  necessities  were  the  limit  to  his  avarice  then  there  would 
be,  perhaps,  some  plea  for  him;  but  the  millionaire  can  only 
use  upon  his  own  person  a  certain  proportion  of  wealth,  and  the 
rest  must  either  go  to  oppress  or  benefit  others.  Usually  it  goes 
to  oppress  others,  making  a  magnitude  of  power  which  is  as 
much  greater  than  anv  den  of  thieves  in  anv  crowded  city  , 
as  a  sanctioned  force  is  greater  than  an  illegitimate  force  ; 
as  much  greater  for  wrong  and  for  robbing  the  poor  man, 
than  the  combined  bandits  of  the  world,  as  is  a  king  more 
powerful  with  his  armies  and  minions  than  the  peasant  who 
crawls  at  his  feet.  Do  not  mistake  these  forces,  therefore;  the 
kleptomaniac  passes  into  the  spiritual  state  in  the  shadow  of  his 
one  fault,  and  side  by  side  with  him  there  may  be  banker,  mill- 
ionaire or  monarch,  whose  shadow  is  ten  thousand  times 
deeper,  and  whom  he  can  benefit  in  moral  ways;  for  aware  of 
his  one  weakness  which  has  been  thrust  and  forced  upon  all 
his  life  by  his  surroundings,  he  is  intent,  perhaps,  upon  over- 


71 

coming  that.     But  he  who  receives  the  sanction  of  tin-  world 

for  what  he  does,  is  liable  to  aw  aken  in  spiritual  existence  v«  it  li 
a  consciousness  that  his  moral  turpitude  was  even  greater  than 
the  other. 

There  are  kinds  of  crimes  that  are  punishable  by  the  \<  1  \ 
nature  of  human  law  beyond  their  deserts,  and   in  ways  that 
they  do  not  deserve,  and  which,  therefore,  are  not    to  be  con- 
sidered   separately  in   spiritual   states.     All  murders   are  not 
committed  under  the  same  circumstances;  all   murderers  are 
not  of  equal  moral  or  spiritual  degree;  all  do  not  commit  the 
act  with  a  consciousness  of  what  they  are  doing,  or  with  that 
degree  of  moral  turpitude  which  is  beyond  the  consciousness 
of  crime.     But  whichever  degree  it  is  he  who  slays  a  single  life 
either  in  anger,  for  greed  or  for  self-defense,  we  consider  to  be 
on  an  equal  plane;  and  he   who  slays  his  brother  with  a  full 
conciousness  of  the  moral  law;  under  the  sanction  of  a  court 
of  justice,  though  he  may  not  be  aware  of  the  fact,  is  repre- 
hensible for  the  crime  of  murder.     For  if  human  life  is  valu- 
able, if  it  is  not  given  to  one  man  to  slay  another  for  his  gold. 
then   it    is  not  given  to  any  man    to  slay  another  to  protect 
gold,  to  save  property.     If  there  is  anything  that  society  can 
do  in  this  case  it  is  to  consider  the   criminal  irresponsible,  and 
therefore  to  exercise  the  same  authority  that  the  surgeon  and 
physician  do  in  the  hospital. 

The  whole  problem  of  the  moral  universe  hinges  here  : 
Either  man  can  justly  claim  the  province  of  judgment,  and 
exercise  it  over  his  fellow-men  individually  or  collectively,  as 
the  case  may  be,  or  the  whole  of  that  realm  must  be  relegated 
to  moral  law  and  moral  forces  that  were  epitomized  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  have  never  been  experimentally 
tried  in  any  government  of  earth.  Either  you  have  the  righl 
to  take  the  law  into  your  own  hands,  or  by  the  judiciary  to 
delegate  others  to  do  it,  or  the  law  of  moral  judgment  is 
beyond  human  ability  to  span.  While  perhaps  you  may  w  ith- 
hold  the  criminal  from  violence  or  perpetration  of  his  wrong 
as  you  would  the  inebriate  and  the  maniac,  yon  have  no  right 
to  take  the  life  of  either. 

Herein  the  spiritual  world  presents  a  singular  contrast. 
No  judgment  seats,  no  judicial  tribunals  assemble  there  ;  none 


72 

indeed  to  practice  the  farce  of  sitting  in  judgment  upon 
another's  moral  nature. 

In  the  moral  power  of  the  spiritual  kingdom,  that  which 
is  good,  that  which  is  transparent,  that  which  is  pure  and 
beautiful,  radiates  as  light  shining  into  the  darkness  of  each 
individual  life — more  or  less  diseased — and  shows  where  the 
darkness  is.  The  kleptomaniacs,  therefore,  are  of  the  one 
spot,  the  one  moral  infirmity.  As  a  man  with  a  cancer  upon 
his  face,  or  some  dreadful  disease,  would  fain  hide  himself 
from  the  gaze  of  his  fellow-men,  retiring  voluntarily  to  the 
hospital  that  he  may  be  treated  of  that  which  causes  him 
to  be  a  bane  and  an  eye-sore  to  others,  so  he  who  has  some 
cankerous  spot  upon  his  moral  nature  does  not  seek  in  spirit 
life  to  throw  this  broadcast  upon  the  shining  raiment  of 
those  who  stand  without  condemnation  and  without  fear, 
watching  with  only  pitying  e;yes  this  victim  of  moral  disease, 
but  voluntarily  flies  to  the  physician,  Christ,  and  asks  whence 
and  where  the  healing  can  come  that  will  cure  this  wound 
upon  his  spirit.  And  there  are  but  few  lives  so  perfect,  few 
natures  so  free  from  blemish  that,  they  do  not  also  seek  the 
physician;  for  when  you  stand  in  the  presence  of  a  very  bright 
and  trying  light,  it  shows  not  only  all  the  beauties  but 
glaringly  reveals  all  imperfections  in  form  and  feature.  And 
when  in  the  clear  white  light  of  the  spirit  you  stand,  also 
there  are  none  who  can  hear  without  shrinking  that  test  of 
their  moral  nature,  none  who  can  say  I  am  complete  and  with- 
out blemish.  Some  selfishness  lurks  in  vour  own  natures, 
some  turbid  stream  of  secret  passion,  something  that  you 
would  fain  hide  from  the  eyes  of  angels  ;  and  you,  feeling 
the  need  of  the  physician  yourself,  have  no  time  to  censure  or 
condemn  others. 

In  the  worst  cases  of  human  crime,  the  shadowy  land  into 
which  no  light  seems  to  penetrate,  this  consciousness  may  not 
come  to  the  individual,  but  it  certainly  conies  to  all  who  have 
the  faintest  glimmering  of  moral  responsibility  in  their  na- 
tures; and  the  fact  that  murderers  before  mounting  the  gal- 
lows, before  being  submitted  to  the  monstrous  judicial  murder 
sanctioned  by  Christian  lands,  oftentimes  feel  to  understand 
their  own  condition  and  declare  they  were  not  aware  of  the 


73 

peculiar  passion  or  frenzy  that  caused  them  to  <1<>  the  'teed. 
The  fact  that  at  the  last  moment  they  enter  into  spiritual  life 
unflinchingly  and  sometimes  almosl  triumphantly,  is.  in  our 
opinion,  no  evidence  of  the  depth  of  their  moral  degradation, 
but  rather  a  proof  that  this  blot  which  is  upon  their  spirits 
does  not  infallibly  separate  them  from  their  fellow-men;  that 
in  proportion  to  human  knowledge  is  human  responsibility, 
and  you  who  have  spoken  harshly  to  your  wife,  your  son,  your 
daughter  this  morning,  may  be  more  morally  responsible  for 
that  act  than  this  man  who,  without  your  moral  training,  has 
committed  what  you  call  murder.  For  a  harsh  word  is  some- 
times even  worse  than  an  angry  blow,  and  has  its  source  in  the 
same  passion  of  selfishness  and  forgetfulness  of  others. 

So  be  careful;  for  while  the  guillotine  and  axe  fall  upon 
the  neck  of  the  judicial  victim,  there  is  a  conscience  that  is  re- 
cording each  word  and  act  in  your  lives,  each  failing  in  your 
hearts;  and  that  wrath  which  you  conceal  but  winch  blos- 
somed into  murder  there,  isi  n  your  nature  as  greal  a  defor- 
mity, if  you  have  had  moral  advantages  and  if  you  understand 
the  amenities  of  life,  if  loving  kindness  has  been  dear  to  you  and 
the  treasures  of  existence  have' poured  into  your  life.  Then  why 
should  you  stand  in  judgment  against  him.  when,  with  your 
culture,  there  should  be  no  blemish  in  your  nature?  But  even 
that  fault  is  not  condemned  by  spirits  and  angels,  and  the 
judgment  seat  to  which  you  are  summoned  is  the  bar  of  your 
individual  conscience,  the  memory  of  the  deed,  the  thougbl 
that  will  haunt  you  until  you  have  overcome  its  consequences, 
or  until  you  have  outgrown  that  condition. 

There  are  kinds  of  melancholy,  too,  that  are  as  reprehen- 
sible as  crimes.  You  condemn  the  man  that  commits  murder, 
but  you  think  individuals  are  privileged  to  carry  a  melancholy 
face  ami  throw  their  sorrows  upon  all  they  meet,  and  make  a 
shadow  wherever  they  pass.  This  deserves  commiseration  it 
is  true,  but  should  you  not  commiserate  the  other?  There  is 
no  moral  excuse  for  sorrow  more  than  for  crime.  One  of  the 
most  selfish  vices  in  human  society  is  I   ,  ishness  of  sorrow 

which  gnaws  at  your  own  heart  strings,  which  robs  lite  of  its 
freshness  and    beauty,  which    tabes  away    the    sunshine  that  it 
is  your  duty  to   confer  upon    others,   ami   having   its  secret 
(17) 


74 

sources  in  selfishness  presents  the  forms  that  children  should 
never  see;  with  this,  as  with  all  other  mental  and  moral 
infirmities,  the  cure  is  to  be  found  within.  No  man  can  be 
good  for  another  ;  no  man  can  expiate  the  offense  of  another, 
and  no  one  can  be  cheerful  for  another,  except  to  radiate  cheer- 
fulness upon  others,  and  endeavor  thereby,  to  kindle  it  in  the 
heart  and  life  of  another. 

It  is  said  that  you  must  not  inflict  pain  upon  any  human 
being,  and  if  you  were  to  go  about  the  streets  with  a  switch  or 
a  cane,  and  every  passer  by  should  receive  a  blow  from  you,  it 
would  be  considered  a  violation  of  the  peace,  and  you  would 
be  arrested;  but  your  complaining,  your  bitterness  of  spirit, 
your  melancholy,  your  sorrow,  you  are  able  to  wear  upon  your 
sleeves,  upon  your  countenances,  in  your  long  dark  veils  and 
manifestations  of  woe,  and  there  is  no  hand  to  stay.  What 
right  have  you  to  make  the  world  sad  with  your  moanings, 
your  bitterness,  your  complaining  of  spirit  ?  Your  sorrows  are 
no  greater  than  the  sorrows  of  others  ;  every  heart  has  its  own 
bitterness.  It  is  yours  to  pass  from  your  closet  of  prayer,  of 
meditation,  of  conquest,  of  self-abnegation,  into  the  light  of 
each  morning's  sun  with  a  smiling  face,  and  if  you  do  not  do 
this,  you  are  a  fit  subject  for  the  moral  physician. 

The  shaft  of  the  murderer  is  visited  with  instantaneous 
punishment,  but  where  does  the  slanderer  dwell  ?  Where  are 
the  laws  that  can  hunt  out  the  poisonous  tongue,  the  shaft  of 
enviousness  and  malice,  the  words  spoken  in  the  dark  that  fly 
like  wild-fire,  poisoning  a  fair  name,  and  sending  sorrow  to  an 
innocent  heart?  No  human  law  is  found  adequate  for  this; 
no  monetary  value  can  be  placed  upon  it;  and  yet,  every  idle 
word  that  you  speak  criticising  another,  or  against  the  fair 
name  of  another,  is  a  shaft  of  murder.  See  to  it  that  the  moral 
physician  probe  your  heart  and  mind  until  it  is  exorcised,  for 
certain  it  is,  that  in  human  society  more  lives  are  sacrificed  by 
slander  than  by  the  assassin.  Certain  it  is,  that  encircling 
each  human  life,  more  poisonous  shafts  go  from  the  tongue 
than  from  the  hand.  And  when  in  the  court  of  judgment— 
which  is  your  own  conscience — you  stand  side  by  side  with 
him  who  in  one  single  niomeinent  of  anger  has  sent  a  bullet 
through  another's  brain,  and  you  see  those  whom  your  thought- 


75 

less  words  or  unkind  remarks  have  injured,  arrayed  before 
you,  forgiving  it  may  be,  but  still  aware,  you  will  wish  there 
were  mountains  and  rocks  to  fall  upon  you  to  hide  you  from 

the  victims  of  your  own  malady. 

Oh,  let  us  find  out  the  source*  of  human  crime  !  Lei  us 
see  to  it,  that  the  fountain  is  kept  pure  at  our  own  door-ways; 
let  the  stream  that  flows  from  the  moral  springs  of  our  own 
beings  be  clear;  let  the  tangles  of  weeds  that  grow  by  the  way- 
side be  uprooted  and  give  place  to  flowers. 

There  are  no  worse  lives  in  spirit  life  than  those  that  arc 
with  you  every  day;  and  we  know  of  no  place  in  any  dungeon 
cell  or  crowded  city  where  the  hand  of  so-called  justice  has 
placed  the  condemned  man,  into  which  Charity  may  not  go 
with  perfect  impunity,  her  garments  unstained  and  her  life 
unsullied,  with  the  word  that  she  might  speak  there;  for  into 
places  like  this  the  healing  power  of  love  can  penetrate,  and 
revivify  those  who  are  infirm. 

Truly  there  is  no  condition  in  human  life,  and  none  in 
spirit  life,  certainly,  that  may  not  be  reached  and  which  is  not 
under  control  of  this  great  moral  force  of  the  universe.  You 
must  remember  that  the  laws  fashioned  by  man,  those  that 
govern  municipal  affairs  and  legislative  enactments,  those  that 
form  the  Judiciary  of  your  own  and  other  lands,  are  not  the 
laws  of  heaven.  You  must  remember,  that  if  you  would  have 
a  code  that  corresponds  to  the  highest  moral  government  in 
the  spiritual  universe,  you  must  have  it  predicated  on  the 
Golden  Rule  ;  and  you  must  remember  also,  that  in  the  courts 
of  human  justice,  so-called,  the  blind  Goddess — for  she  is 
blind  and  deaf  and  well  depicted  here — the  blind  Goddess 
sees  not  man's  moral  condition,  his  spiritual  state,  but  only 
judges  by  the  dull  and  barren  line  of  material  events,  and 
that  which  underlies  the  act  is  concealed,  and  while  angels  pi/;/. 
Judges  condemn. 

In  the  great  moral  laws  of  the  spirit  land,  the  power  of 
right  rules  over  that  of  might  :  Justice  is  tempered  by  the 
mandates  of  love,  and  the  physician  is  substituted  for  the 
guillotine  and  the  executioner's  axe.  Places  of  healing  into 
which  the  proud  and  great  of  earth  are  only  too  glad  to  enter  ; 
and  the  judge,  who  yesterday  sentenced  the  unfortunate  mur- 


76 

derer  to  death,  may  to-morrow  rind  himself  under  the  healing- 
power  of  the  wise  moral  physician  of  spirit  life.  For,  if  believ- 
ing it  to  be  his  duty  to  put  his  fellowmen  to  death ,  surely  his 
darkness  needs  the  illumining  power  of  spiritual  light. 

Oh!  when  you  pass  from  the  striving,  the  contention,  the 
violence,  the  outward  struggle,  the  false  forms  that  society 
wears  here,  and  you  stand  face  to  face  with  your  own  spirit — 
that  spirit  that  }tou  cannot  escape  from  by  death,  that  con- 
sciousness that  the  grave  will  not  take  from  you,  that  life  that 
can  neither  be  crushed  by  the  executioner  nor  suspended  by 
any  falsehood — when  you  are  face  to  face  with  the  realities  of 
things,  then  those  who  are  condemned  and  despiesd  on  earth 
will  not  seem  so  loathsome  in  the  light  of  that  love  that  is 
needed  by  all,  and  that  all,  in  some  manner,  would  do  well  to 
apply  to  their  lives  and  to  the  searching  scrunity  of  their  exis- 
tence. 

No  special  sphere  receives  either  murderer,  thief,  lunatic 
or  others  afflicted  with  moral  and  mental  infirmities.  Distri- 
buted through  human  life,  these  conditions  are  found  to  be 
epitomized  in  some  natures,  and  are  treated  as  exaggerated 
cases  of  almost  universal  disease.  Therefore,  beware  of  false 
judgments,  and  when  spirits  approach  you  from  the  other 
world  be  not  so  much  afraid  of  contamination  and  injury  from 
them;  even  he  whom  you  condemned  yesterday  may  bring  you 
a  valuable  moral  lesson  from  the  world  of  spirits,  that  will 
serve  to  light  your  own  way  and  make  your  pathway  more 
clear  into  that  hall  of  love  and  justice  where  no  fierce  judge 
sits  with  icy  coldness  upon  the  seat  of  power  ;  where  no  aveng- 
ing angels  are  gathered  round  to  punish  the  guilty;  but  where 
in  silence,  and  only  seen  by  the  eyes  of  love,  each  spirit  views 
its  own  condition,  and  asks  that  the  healer  may  be  there  to 
make  them  whole. 


77 


The  Methods  of  Communion  between,  the 

Spiritual  and  Mate  ■      Worlds, 


The  ethical  or  moral  proposition  as  to  whether  spirits 
should  commune  if  they  can,  is  not  under  consideration. 
Those  whose  theological  convictions  are  such  that  they  do  not 
permit  departed  spirits  to  return  to  earth,  would  do  well  to 
inquire  into  the  fact  as  to  whether  they  return  or  no,  before 
deciding  the  propriety  of  it  ;  since  in  the  universe  of  natural 
law  it  has  been  proven  in  all  history  that  neither  nature  or  God 
consult  humanity  as  to  what  should  occur  in  the  universe. 
The  law  of  light  and  heat,  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  tides, 
the  great  tempests  that  sweep  over  the  earth  bringing  health- 
giving  breath — all  occur  independently  of  man's  permission, 
and  the  only  province  of  human  intelligence  is  to  adapt  itself 
to  these  wonderful  changes,  and  endeavor  by  the  law  of  intelli- 
gence to  reach  the  higher  strata  of  natural  science.  For  just 
as  surely  as  that  sails  speed  the  vessel's  course  on  the  ocean, 
or  steam  transports  the  mighty  products  of  the  world  from  one 
continent  to  another,  so  is  it  sure  that  human  intelligence 
when  acting  in  accordance  with  natural  law  may  accomplish 
wonders,  and  that  there  is  no  limit,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to 
perceive,  in  the  possibility  of  human  achievements. 

Between,  however,  the  realm  that  is  called  natural  law, 
the  movements  of  wrhich  occur  with  regular,  distinct,  and  peri- 
odical directness — the  phenomena  of  the  universe  materially 
being  regulated  by  that  law — and  the  manifestation  of  intelli- 
gence through  natural  forces,  which  is  distinct  and  individu- 
alized, there  is  as  clear  a  dividing  line,  as  distinct  and  actual 
a  difference,  as  between  the  intellect  in  man,  which  forces  him 
to  do  a  thousand  things  in  violence  of  his  physical  well  being, 
and  yet  which  constitute,  perhaps,  the  very  triumph  of  his 
intelligence  and  the  physical  being  itself.  The  chronometer  or 
(dock  will,  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  its  construction— 
which  of  course  was  an  intelligent  law— perform  its  regular 
(18) 


78 

office  of  indicating  the  time  of  day,  and  under  certain  regu- 
lations will  do  this  continually ,  until  the  friction  upon  the 
materials  of  which  it  is  constructed  shall  cause  it  to  wear  out. 
But  if  the  hands  of  that  clock  were  to  suddenly  pass  swiftly 
around  indicating  within  one  minute  several  hours;  and  if  i* 
has  a  striking  apparatus,  instead  of  striking  regularly  at  the 
appointed  hours,  the  bells  were  to  indicate  one,  two,  three, 
four,  and  the  hand  signals  within  the  space  of  a  minute,  and 
that  in  response  to  your  wish  or  request,  you  would  certainly 
know  it  was  not  the  result  of  any  accident  in  the  action  of  the 
atmosphere  around  you,  nor  of  anything  in  the  construction 
of  the  clock,  but  was  some  other  intelligence.  Doubtless  your 
Puritan  fathers  would  say  his  Satanic  Majesty  had  taken 
possession  of  the  clock  and  produced  the  result.  So  if  this 
splendid  organ,  played  upon  but  this  instant  by  your  organist, 
should,  without  any  visible  performer,  begin  to  give  forth 
sounds  of  music  exactly  in  correspondence  to  musical  bars  and 
scales,  and  rising  to  the  degree  of  grandeur  equal  to  Beethoven 
or  Mozart,  you  would  certainly  say  it  was  not  in  accordance 
with  the  construction  of  the  organ,  excepting  it  was  played 
upon  by  individual  intelligence. 

Therefore,  I  say  that  where  the  line  of  natural  law  in  its 
ordinary  working  leaves  off,  and  a  distinct  individual  intelli- 
gence, even  though  it  be  through  an  invisible  form,  operates, 
it  is  as  easily  determined  as  the  difference  between  a  shaft  of 
lightning  and  a  telegraphic  message. 

It  is  the  ordinary  question,  not  only  among  Spiritualists 
but  investigators.  If  spirits  communicate  with  mortals,  what 
are  their  methods '?  The  question  indicates  the  capacity  to 
understand  the  methods — or  should  do  so,  and  that  the  one 
asking  it  is  qualified  by  some  preliminary  steps  to  understand 
that  which  shall  follow  the  answer  to  the  question.  Thousands 
of  people  are  passing  over  the  continent,  drawn  by  a  steam 
engine  whose  workings  they  have  no  more  knowledge  of  than 
they  have  of  the  wonderful  mechanism  of  the  soul.  They  do 
not  question  how  they  go,  but  accept  the  results;  and  only 
the  skillful  engineer,  who  allows  no  interference  in  his  de- 
partment can  explain  the  mystery  of  cylinder,  piston-rod, 
valve  and   wheel  ;  and   even  were  he  to   explain   it,  very  few 


7!) 

human  beings  without  special  culture  could  understand  it. 
Yet  here  is  a  message  from  the  innermost  sources  of  being, 
bringing  to  your  very  doors  the  fact  of  immortal  life,  bearing 
unto  your  hearts  and  minds  the  wonderful  knowledge  of  the 
future  state  ;  and  yet  before  accepting  the  fact,  or  as  it'  it  affect- 
ed the  fact  in  any  way,  you  say  :  "Well,  how  is  it  possible  that 
spirits  can  manifest  ?  "  The  fact  is  before  you,  like  the  steam 
engine  ;  and  if  you  would  know  its  intricate  working',  you  must 
place  yourself  as  a  pupil  under  the  direction  of  those  who 
understand  the  law  ;  first  presuming  that  you  have  the  natural 
capacity  to  understand,  for  all  persons  cannot  be  engineers 
any  more  than  all  can  be  astronomers  or  mathematicians. 

The  natural  gifts  of  humanity  govern  the  pursuits  of 
knowledge,  or  in  some  degree  ;  but  all  plunge  blindly  into  this 
question,  as  though  there  were  the  capacity  already  of  compre- 
hending it.  Thousands  of  human  beings  breathe  the  air  daily, 
and  complain  bitterly  if  it  is  excluded  from  their  apartments, 
or  crowded  cars,  or  boats;  and  yet  not  one  in  ten  thousand  can 
tell  the  component  parts,  chemically,  of  the  atmosphere,  or 
why  it  constitutes  the  breath  of  life.  Accepting  the  air  as 
a  natural  and  universal  benefaction,  they  do  not  say  :  "  Why  is 
it  that  we  must  breathe  to  live  ?"  The  same  may  be  said  of 
every  physical  law  that  governs  your  being,  and  the  scientific 
expert  or  the  adept  is  able  to  give  only  a  few  of  the  more  in- 
tricate effects  of  which  the  causes  still  lie  concealed  in  the 
innermost  recesses  of  natural  law.  Spiritual  phenomena  dif- 
fer from  the  phenomena  of  natural  law  by  the  manifestation 
of  individual  intelligence — an  intelligence  that  is  personal,  has 
distinctly  a  will  of  its  own;  sometimes,  seemingly,  as  capri- 
cious as  your  own,  but  yet  express  this  intelligence  in  such  a 
variety  of  ways  and  through  such  a  variety  of  avenues  that  it 
demands  at  once  the  attention  and  scrutiny  of  the  world. 

But  the  marvel  is  that  the  mind  of  man,  instead  of  accept- 
ing, the  fact  as  he  would  any  other  fact  in  the  universe  and 
waiting  gradually  for  the  methods  to  develop  to  his  conscious- 
ness, pauses  on  the  very  threshold  of  his  investigation,  making 
the  fact  dependent  upon  his  ability  to  comprehend  the  meth- 
ods. If  science  wrere  to  pause  in  that  manner  because  the 
world  is  not  capable  of   following   her  intricacies,  you  would 


80 

never  have  advanced  from  the  dull  level  of  earthly  existence 
that  preceded  Galileo,  and  would  now  be  walking  upon  a  flat 
and  barren  earth  while  the  stars  would  be  still  moving  in 
glass  spheres  around. 

If  science  waited  for  the  average  mind  to  comprehend  her 
propositions  e'er  they  were  stated,  or  even  for  the  discoverer 
of  a  fact  to  be  certain  of  the  methods  by  which  he  arrived  at 
the  fact,  there  would  to-day  be  no  steam  engine,  no  electrical 
apparatus,  no  vast  improvements  in  telegraphy  and  in  the 
science  of  chemistry  and  geology.  It  is  only  by  accepting  in 
the  great  whirl  of  the  universe  such  facts  as  appear  before 
your  vision,  being  forever  on  the  alert  that  you  may  perceive, 
having  your  senses  quickened,  that  you  finally  arrive  at  the 
wonderful  processes  of  the  universe. 

Spiritual  phenomena  have  swept  in  to  the  great  sphere  of 
facts  in  the  nineteenth  century,  not  only  with  startling  rapid- 
ity, but  with  singular  exactness  and  clearness,  baffling  every 
department  of  science  in  its  endeavor  to  exrdain  them,  and 
compelled  from  such  men  of  science  who  have  had  time,  not 
only  attention,  but  allegiance. 

None  can  tell  better  than  the  man  of  science  where  the 
ordinary  routine  of  natural  law  breaks  off  and  the  conscious 
entity  steps  in  ;  no  one  can  tell  better  than  the  electrician 
that  unless  the  electrical  force  is  governed  by  intelligence 
it  will  convey  no  message;  none  better  qualified  to  judge 
upon  this  point  than  such  men  as  Mr.  Varley,  Prof.  Crookes, 
and  others  who  have  devoted  their  lives  to  the  study  of  elec- 
trical  phenomena;  and  yet  they  distinctly  declare  that  electri- 
city, unless  guided  by. intelligence,  can  never  produce  a  single 
intellectual  action.  But  if  electricity  does  manifest  intelligence, 
if  it  be  under  the  government  of  ordinary  electrical  apparatus, 
it  may  be  man;  but  if  it  express  intelligence  without  that 
apparatus,  and  is  able  to  be  directed  independently  of  elec- 
trical wires,  batteries  and  electrical  jars,  then  there  must  be 
an  intelligence  outside  of  man;  not  only  so,  but  so  carefully 
have  they  pursued  their  investigations,  that  it  is  distinctly 
shown  that  electricity  plays  not  even  a  small  part  in  the  mani- 
festations which  an  ordinary  and  vulgar  mind  usually  describes 
as    the    physical     phenomena    of  spiritualism;    that   in     the 


81 

closest  weight  and   most    careful  experiment    with  electrical 

apparatus  that  would  test  to  the  thousandth  pari  of  an  inch 
any  pressure,  there  has  been  found  to  be  no  electrical  current 
radiating  from  the  medium,  even  though  there  was  produced 
various  phenomena  requiring  some  power  of  surpassing 
strength. 

Whatever  the  force  may  be  that  the  spirits  employ  to 
produce  manifestations,  it  is  certainly  no  force  with  which 
the  human  mind  is  yet  in  any  degree  familiar,  and  herein  is 
the  difficulty  in  expressing  to  you  the  methods  by  which 
spirits  communicate;  you,  who  are  not  even  familiar  with 
the  existence  of  the  forces  that  they  employ,  much  less  have 
not  yet  comprehended,  nor  are  you  capable  of  comprehending 
any  terms  for  those  forces. 

The  usual  term  of  psychology  may  be  applied,  and  very 
properly,  to  the  class  of  phenomena  known  as  mental.  But 
when  it  is  attempted  to  apply  this  to  the  physical  manifesta- 
tions of  spiritualism,  all  are  at  sea;  because  if,  as  Dr.  Beard  of 
New7  York  insists,  you  are  psychologized,  mesmerized,  or  to  use 
his  scientific  phrase  "  hypnotized  in  your  physical  observation 
of  the  phenomena  of  spiritualism.  "  Were  this  so,  then  the 
whole  universe  of  fact  in  the  material  world  is  liable  to  be 
produced  by  the  same  mental  hallucination.  Yoir  are  not 
capable,  therefore,  of  observation  in  any  direction  of  natural 
science.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  power  or  force  employed 
is  not  only  that  with  which  you  are  not  yet  familiar,  but  the 
effects  are  such  as  you  can  observe,  how  eagerly  should  you 
avail  yourselves  of  the  opportunity  to  observe  those  effects 
and  note  down  with  care  the  manifestations  and  circumstan- 
ces under  which  they  occur,  and  above  all  that  the  mind  shall 
be  in  the  condition,  not  of  prejudgment  but  of  receptivity  ;  for 
no  man  of  intelligence  can  possibly  pretend  to  view  a  series  of 
phenomena  new  to  him,  with  whose  methods  he  is  entirely 
unfamiliar,  and  bring  there  a  prejudgment  or  a  preconceived 
opinion  as  a  part  of  his  intellectual  observation.  Nor  can  it 
be  said  that  he  is  a  careful  and  intelligent  witness  if  he  brings 
either  prejudice,  preconceived  opinion,  or  a  denial  of  the  fact 
with  him.  To  be  an  investigator  it  is  not  required  that  one 
should  be  a  bigot  in  skepticism  ;  to  be  the  most  careful  inves- 
(19) 


82 

tigatorit  does  not  mean  that  one  is  credulous,  but  it  means  that 
one  is  clear-thoughted  ;  that  his  mind  is  not  previously  pre- 
judiced either  by  education  or  religious  bias,  and  that  he 
intends  to  receive  such  facts  as  are  in  the  universe  waiting  for 
such  time  as  his  own  intelligence,  or  the  revelations  accompa- 
nying, shall  make  him  capable  of  comprehending  it. 

To  me,  the  solution  of  the  physical  problems  of  Spiritu- 
alism is  of  much  less  importance  than  the  sublimity  of  the 
fact  itself.  To  me,  w^ere  I  in  your  place,  as  I  once  was,  it 
would  not  so  much  matter  the  manner  in  which  I  received  a 
message  from  my  friend  as  that  I  received  it,  while  afterwards 
I  might  be  interested  in  tracing  the  laws  of  manifestation. 

The  first  great  proposition  in  spiritual  phenomena  is  the 
love  of  the  departed  for  those  who  remain  on  earth;  and  if, 
according  to  history  and  poetry,  according  to  that  which  bards 
have  sung  and  novelists  have  written  in  their  age,  love  may 
work  such  miracles  on  earth,  why  may  not  that  love  which 
becomes  divine,  that  sacred  flame  of  the  human  spirit  wdiich 
outlives  death,  which  is  triumphant  over  time,  in  fact  perform 
more  miracles  in  the  world  of  spirits  than  when  in  contact 
with  organic  human  lives?  And  why  may  not  this  be  an 
accepted  fact  by  the  man  of  science  who  does  not  scorn  the 
gentle  amenities  of  life,  as  by  those  who.  dependent  upon  love 
alone,  sometimes  rise  triumphant  beyond  all  science,  and  prove 
that  its  subtle  alchemy  is  more  potent  than  all  that  the  chemist 
can  analyze ''. 

No  physiologist  can  explain  the  added  palpitation  of  the 
heart  under  the  stimulus  of  divine  emotion;  no  physiologist  can 
explain  the  desperation  which  comes  from  grief  and  the 
gradual  dying  away  of  the  ties  of  life.  If  by  such  subtle  pro- 
cesses the  physical  form  of  man  is  affected  here  under  the 
dominion  of  the  senses  by  his  conscious  intelligence  and  his 
emotion,  why  may  not  every  force  in  the  universe  be  moved 
and  controlled  by  the  dominant  influence  of  love,  and  like 
the  flow  of  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  fill  up  all  the  narrow  bayous, 
all  the  lowland  streams,  with  its  wonderful  overflow  from  the 
realm  of  the  spirit,  without  there  being  considered  an  undue 
amount  of  sentiment  at  variance  with  natural  law  ? 

Surely  a  domain  which  affects  the  lives  and  destinit 


83 

all,  a  realm  which  must  hold  in  its  divine  possession  all  of  the 
mysteries  of  being,  is  not  one  to  be  easily  fathomed  or  under- 
stood in  a  moment.  And  if  from  out  of  the  mysterious  realm 
that  is  culled  death,  the  wonderful  working  pinions  of  life  pro- 
ceed, as  from  the  past  silence  the  incubation  of  years  has 
yielded  the  harvest  times  on  earth,  so  from  the  realm  of  the 
spirit,  by  such  greater  approaches  of  love  and  intelligence  as 
the  human  conciousness  can  fathom,  the  powers  of  the  spirit- 
ual realm  are  made  manifest  to  your  senses. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  man  to  challenge  the  stars  in 
their  onward  march,  but  to  keep  pace  with  them:  it  is  not  the 
province  of  man  to  stand  by  the  gate-way  of  the  sepulchre  and 
challenge  the  silent  yet  palpable  presence  who  comes  from  the 
invisible  yet  wonderful  realm;  but  if  such  visitor  approach 
clad  in  raiment  that  he  can  see,  or  reveals  himself  l>v  a  voice 
that  he  can  hear,  he  should  listen. 

The  ghost  of  Hamlet  was  not  challenged  after  the  manner 
of  the  modern  investigator,  but  only  that  the  intense  and  highly 
wrought  mind  of  the  son  might  hear  the  message  that  the 
father  had  to  bring  him,  unraveling  the  mystery  of  the  death 
of  the  king.  80  when  you  with  the  very  questionings  of  lo\e. 
perceive  your  loved  ones — whether  they  come  through  the  rap- 
ping or  the  sound  of  music,  through  the  strings  of  a  guitar  or 
through  the  trumpet  that  enables  them  more  effectually  to 
voice  the  power,  or  whether  through  the  handwriting  or  the 
voice  of  inspiration — it  still  is  not  important  how  they  come, 
but  what  they  bring.  It  is  this  great  question  of  what  the\ 
bring,  that  constitutes  Spiritualism. 

Phenomenalists  may  deal  if  they  please  in  the  methods  or 
external  manifestations  of  Spiritualism,  and  may,  as  some  sen- 
sationalists do,  occupy  their  entire  time  in  witnessing  differ- 
ent phases  merely  of  phenomena. 

But  the  true  investigator  is  not  only  interested  in  the  fact 
of  spiritual  manifestation  but  that  which  lies  beyond  it.  Into 
the  realm  of  the  spirit  you  may  only  enter  by  spiritual 
pathways.  It  is  not  given  for  humanity  to  cross  the  border 
line  by  material  processes.  Spirits  may  come  to  you  by  mate- 
rial methods — the  higher  acting  upon  the  lower  forces  of 
nature — but  you  cannot  climb  into  the  spiritual   world  l»\  any 


84 

Jacob's  ladder  of  material  facts;  you  must,  if  you  would  under- 
stand the  methods  or  the  signs  in  the  outer  sphere  of  existence, 
place  your  spirits  in  conformity  to  spiritual  laws.  I  will 
illustrate: 

The  astronomer  does  not  mate  his  data  from  the  earth  as 
the  centre  of  the  solar  system,  although  to  all  human  senses 
the  earth  is  the  centre.  The  sun  seems  to  rise  and  set,  the 
stars  seem  to  perform  their  revolutions  around  the  earth;  hut 
the  true  astronomer  makes  the  centre  of  his  solar  calcrdations 
the  sun.  and  finding  a  deviation  in  the  great  cycles  of  revolu- 
tion, he  has  been  obliged  to  make  a  more  distant  centre — a 
solar  centre  round  which  suns  may  revolve — to  explain  the 
precision  of  the  equinoxes  and  the  difference  in  the  movements 
of  the  planets  from  cycle  to  cycle. 

So  if  one  would  observe  the  causes  of  spiritual  phenomena, 
he  must  do  no  from  the  external  form  of  nature,  but  he  must 
place  himself — being  a  spirit  as  well  as  body — in  the  spiritual 
center,  from  which  he  must  perceive  the  powers  that  radiate 
toward  the  material,  and  by  which  processes  alone  he  must 
understand  the  methods  of  spiritual  manifestations. 

Suppose  some  professor  of  electricity  of  modern  times, 
could  have  lived  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  should  have  ex- 
plained to  a  contemporaneous  mind  who  had  no  knowledge  of 
electricity,  of  its  terms,  of  the  processes  of  developing  its 
presence  or  manifestations — if  in  mere  language  he  should 
state  how  electricity  exists  and  what  its  manifestations  are,  he 
would  have  been  met,  not  only  with  incredulity,  but  the 
scepticism  would  amount  to  pity  and  contempt  for  the  maniac 
who  could  treat  of  a  subject  that  had  no  existence,  and  profess 
to  give  formulas  of  that  which  could  by  no  possibility  occur. 
But  yet,  to-day  it  is  possible  for  you  to  become  familiar  with 
the  formulated  methods  of  detecting  the  presence  of  electricity, 
of  evolving  its  vibrations  in  the  human  system  and  in  the  at- 
mosphere,  and  also  of  directing  it  to  word  messages  that  shall 
convey  your  intelligence,  one  to  the  other.  So  when  a  spirit 
discourses  to  you  concerning  the  methods  of  spiritual  life  and 
requires  that  you  shall  be  receptive  and  passive,  it  is  simply 
that  your  minds  may  not  meet  in  this  added  step  of  your  spirit- 
ual unfoldment  and  inspiration,  the  usual  scepticism  and 
doubt, — a  barrier  that  has  met  every  stage  of  human  science. 


85 

In  the  world  of  theology  one  denial  has  been  brought  to 

bear  against  the  phenomena  of  Spiritualism.  The  only  denial 
is  in  the  source  from  whence  the  manifestations  come.  A.S 
theology  wishes  to  preserve  itself  intact  as  the  only  form  of 
revelation,  all  classes  of  spiritual  manifestions  have  been  rele- 
gated to  the  domain  of  Satan,  and  therefore  the  ministrations 
admitted,  but  the  source  questioned.  But  to  the  philosopher, 
who  has  no  more  fear  of  Satan  than  of  God,  and  is  just  as 
willing  to  explore  Gehenna  as  the  Holy  of  Holies  if  it  could 
bring  him  any  added  knowledge,  there  is  no  terror  in  that 
word.  He  understands  full  well  that  if  the  spirits  of  evil  are 
permitted  to  come  to  earth  there  must  be  a  law  by  which  the 
good  ones  also  must  come.  He  understands  very  well  that 
there  is  no  shadow  in  the  universe  excepting  there  be  a  cor- 
responding light,  and  which  is  willing  to  go  through  the 
shadow  if  it  is  necessary.  So  that  this  fear  has  not  retarded 
the  investigation  of  the  average  scientific  mind. 

The  ordinary  human  mind  only  reaches  out  towards  Spir- 
itualism through  curiosity  or  love.  If  through  curiosity,  it  is 
a  surface  growth,  and  will  be  cut  down  like  stubble  in  the 
early  harvest  of  spiritual  thought.  If  it  be  for  love,  it  is  the 
growth  of  centuries.  It  brings  with  it  all  the  old-time  phe- 
nomena to  sustain  its  expression,  and  it  breathes  out  through 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  the  longing  of  mankind  in  that 
direction. 

First  and  foremost  you  are  required  to  have  faith.  Of 
myself  I  do  not  laugh  at  this  word  ;  being  a  philosopher  I  can 
afford  to  accept  it  as  a  factor  in  the  universe  of  spiritual  cause 
and  effect ;  and  when  it  was  said  that  Jesus  could  not  perform 
many  miracles  in  his  native  place  because  of  their  unbelief  or 
lack  of  faith,  I  understand  what  it  meant.  It  means  this:  that 
the  faith  which  was  necessary,  is  the  step  that  you  must  take 
to  receive  the  fact,  not  to  produce  it. 

Of  what  value  shall  it  be  that  I  discourse  to  you,  if  you 
will  not  listen  ?  What  would  be  the  value  of  this  morning's 
discourse  if  you  were  inattentive  and  trifling  ?  The  faith  that 
Christ  meant  is  the  attitude  of  receptivity  ;  to  be  willing  to 
receive.  I  know  of  no  blessing,  especially  in  the  moral  world, 
that  can  be  forced  upon  humanity.  But,  said  one,  "He  might 
have  performed  miracles,  had  he  such  divine  power,  that  would 
(20) 


86 

have  vanquished  their  unbelief."  Do  not  believe  it!  For  they 
might  sooner  slay  him  if  what  they  did  not  wish  to  have  true 
were  sooner  proven.  An  attitude  of  unbelief  is  not  simply  nega- 
tive but  aggressive  ;  it  is  not  simply  that  the  thing  is  not  true, 
but  that  you  do  not  wish  it  to  be  true.  Theology  crucifies 
the  saviour  of  the  new  revelation  ;  science  crucifies  the  saviour 
of  the  new  discovery  because  it  destroys  the  finality  and  infal- 
libility of  the  old . 

If  mankind  has  one  failing  more  predominant  than  another, 
it  is  a  wish  to  be  considered  infallible  upon  any  subject  that 
confers  upon  a  man  a  standard  amount  of  dignity;  and  from 
the  police  captain  to  the  commander  of  the  nation's  armies 
you  can  usually  multiply  the  degrees  of  authority  by  the 
inverse  degrees  of  ostentation,  until  it  comes  to  real  greatness, 
when  humility  is  manifested.  So  real  knowledge  brings 
humility,  and  it  is  only  the  fictitous  mind  that  has  not  actual 
knowledge  that  so  carefully  entrenches  itself  behind  the  bar- 
ricade of  authority;  and  this  is  why  faith  is  necessary. 

As  you  would  go  out  to  meet  your  friend  were  he  coming 
to  you  from  a  distant  city,  so  should  you  go  out  to  meet  truth, 
let  it  come  from  wheresoe'er  it  will.  As  you  would  receive 
your  friend  though  he  came  from  the  briny  wave  or  from  the 
hands  of  the  bandits,  so  should  you  receive  truth  though  it 
come  to  you  in  mangled  form,  and  though  it  hath  suffered  the 
persecution  of  ages. 

Spiritual  phenomena  came  to  you  and  found  you  in  a 
condition  of  mind  that  is  notonlv  aggressive,  but  that  in  every 
age  has  persecuted  both  science  and  religion.  It  comes  to  you 
in  a  state  or  period  of  time  when  everything  must  be  utilita- 
rian ;  when  the  great  aggressive  spirit  of  civilization  is  seek- 
ing to  pervert  all  things  to  the  natural  level  of  material  fact. 
And  as  such,  it  is  the  more  potent  and  the  more  wonderful 
that  these  forces,  impalpable  except  through  intelligence,  un- 
controlled except  by  direct  action  of  mind,  and  having  not 
only  volition  but  love  for  their  prompting,  shall  be  able  to 
reach  you  who  demand  so  much  and  who  demand  in  such  sin- 
gular and   external  ways.     It  is  the  phenomenon  of  the  ages. 

It  is  the  more  marvelous  in  this  :  that  it  does  not  spring 
from  any  school  of  theology  nor  any  distinct  department  of 
science,  but  has  made  its  way  directly  through   the  material 


87 

line  of  thought  into  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  people,  it  is 
the  more  remarkable  since  it  has  cut  its  pathway  in  two  direc- 
tions :  on  the  one  hand  encroaching  upon  the  borders  of  the- 
ology, and  on  the  other  encroaching  upon  the  borders  of 
science,  until  it  compels  one  to  loose  hold  of  its  dogmas,  ;iu<! 
the  other  to  reject  its  materialism.  It  is  more  remarkable 
since  it  expresses  the  one  factor  that  has  not  been  inclu- 
ded in  the  great  scientific  summary  of  the  universe,  namely, 
the  individual,  immortal  will  of  man. 

Whatever  God  may  mean  to  the  theologian,  or  natural 
law  to  the  man  of  science,  they  have  never  given  any  room  or 
place  to  the  disembodied  human  will.  I  would  name  the  force 
by  which  spirits  manifest,  clairvoulance — a  distinct  and  clear 
will  power  ;  not  a  will  power  governed  by  passion,  for  that  is 
not  will.  The  clear  will  or  mind  of  earth,  is  the  calm,  self- 
poised,  concentrated  intellect  inspired  by  the  soul.  He  who 
is  stubborn  has  very  little  will,  for  wThen  once  the  barricade  of 
his  stubbornness  is  broken  down  he  is  a  prey  to  all  surround- 
ing passions.  He  who  is  capricious  has  no  will,  for  he  is  the 
subject  of  every  whirlwind  of  passion  that  sweeps  over  him. 
But  those  who  have  swayed  the  nations  of  earth  are  the  clear, 
calm,  strong  wills;  and  this  must  be  the  nearest  to  the  etiolo- 
gical term  that  can  be  framed,  to  express  what  the  spirit  does 
in  order  to  communicate  with  mortals  through  material  forces. 

The  acting  upon  human  wills  by  the  clear  power  of  the 
disembodied  will  of  the  spirit  is  the  act  of  direct  control, 
utterance,  inspiration,  or  whatever  else  belongs  to  the  realm  of 
mental  force  or  power  ;  the  act  of  a  clear  will  upon  those  sub- 
tle forces  that  surround  you  and  are  within  you;  which  not  only 
can  control  your  intelligence  and  direct  your  actions,  but.  also 
can  control  the  material  substances  which  compose  your  bodies. 
A  clear  will  alone  can  produce  physical  manifestations  ;  and 
he  who  supposes  that  that  realm  or  department  of  Spiritualism 
is  under  the  control  of  inferior  or  ignorant  sphits  is  very  much 
mistaken.  As  you  would  employ,  perhaps,  ignorant  laborers 
to  dig  a  bed  for  your  railways,  but  the  civil  engineer  to  survey 
and  superintend  the  work,  so  the  physical  manifestations  of 
Spiritualism  are  under  the  direct  control  of  the  clearest  wills 
that  the  earth  has  produced.  And  Spiritualism  is  not  divided 
into  sections,  classes  nor  kinds  of  Spiritualism.     In  the  world 


88 


of  spirits  there  is  but  one  Spiritualism,  and  that  is  the  minis- 
tration of  the  love  of  your  friends  to  you  who  are  upon  the 
earth. 

There  is  but  one  fact  in  Spiritualism,  and  that  is  the  con- 
veying of  intelligence  from  the  spiritual  realm  to  mortal  minds; 
and  whatever  means  is  necessary  to  convey  that  intelligence 
the  spirit  world  will  employ.  Angels,  messengers,  minister- 
ing spirits,  or  those  who  are  in  ignorance,  may  be  made  the 
means  of  manifestation,  still  not  have  a  separate  kind  of  Spir- 
itualism. It  may  happen  to  include  more  in  its  sphere  of 
love  than  your  moral  nature  will  reach ;  it  may  happen  to 
include  more  in  its  sphere  of  intelligence  than  your  intellect 
is  capable  of  reaching.  And  if  it  throws  its  divine  mantle 
over  the  whole  human  family,  and  reaches  the  most  benighted 
as  well  as  the  most  exalted,  do  not  therefore  think  that  it  is 
degraded,  but  rather  that  it  is  so  exalted  that,  like  the  sun's 
rays,  it  can  descend  to  the  lowest  valleys. 

It  does  not  scorn  the  smallest  methods;  it  will  enrploy  the 
meanest  ways — we  mean  by  this  those  that  are  most  obscure  and 
those  that  are  considered  least  worthy — to  express  to  every  class 
and  condition  of  mind  the  one  fact  of  spiritual  communion. 

And  if  your  philosophy  will  not  include  all  humanity;  if 
your  heaven  is  too  narrow  to  be  extended  to  all;  and  if  vou 
cannot  expand  your  brain  or  intelligence  to  include  all  the 
forces  of  the  material  and  moral  universe  as  portions  of  its 
purposes,  then  the  sooner  you  cease  to  investigate  Spiritualism 
the  better.  Rather  seek  some  little  corner  of  creed  or  some 
narrow  limit  of  the  materialistic  philosophy,  in  which  to  shel- 
ter the  broken  pinions  of  the  powerless  apparatus  of  your 
intelligence. 

But  Spiritualism  will  employ  every  force,  every  method, 
every  instrument,  until  the  world  shall  know  that  the  realm 
of  spirit  is  a  realm  of  most  clear,  distinct  and  immortal  intelli- 
gence; more  potent  than  winds,  and  waves,  and  tides;  more 
potent  than  the  atomic  structure  of  the  universe;  more  po- 
tent than  the  air  that  you  breathe,  or  the  sun  which  lights 
you  on  your  way,  since  it  can  include  all  methods  and  powers, 
adapt  them  all  to  its  uses,  and  make  them  all  the  bearers  of  its 
wondrous  truth. 


89 


The  Methods  of  Communion  between  the 
Spiritual  and  Material  Worlds, 

(CONTINUED.) 

Without  considering  at  all  the  abstract  proposition  of  the 
ethical  nature  of  spirit  communion,  many  individuals  are  desir- 
ous of  knowing-  the  modus  operandi. 

It  was  stated  in  our  previous  discourse  that  such  persons, 
however,  do  not  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  they 
have  passed  through  none  of  the  preliminary  stages  whereby 
they  can  understand  the  methods  of  spirit  communion,  but 
like  the  child,  asking  to  know  astronomy  without  studying  the 
primary  principles  either  of  mathematics  or  of  the  laws  govern- 
ing the  stellar  universe.  In  the  same  sense,  humanity  is  wholly 
in  ignorance  of  the  laws  governing  the  communion  between 
the  two  worlds.  But  a  supposable  fact  is  just  as  easily  stated, 
even  though  you  do  not  understand  it,  and  some  of  those 
methods  I  can  state  to  you  as  realities  which  may,  perchance, 
only  reach  your  minds  in  the  guise  of  supposition  or  possibil- 
ity, but  which,  after  a  lapse  of  time  and  greater  familiarity 
with  the  subject,  you  will  then  comprehend. 

It  is  well  known  that  mind  influences  the  physical  organ- 
ism of  man,  without  any  known  process — that  is,  no  science 
of  physiology,  anatomy,  or  anthropology  lias  yet  analytically 
traced  the  process  by  which  the  individual  will  power  of  an 
embodied  human  spirit  causes  the  body  to  walk  up  and  down 
the  streets,  the  hands  to  perform  the  daily  task,  or  any,  indeed, 
of  the  numberless  processes  of  will. 

It  is  well  known  that  light  reaches  the  human  eye  by  what 
is  termed  vibrations;  that  indeed  light  itself  is  but  composed  of 
vibrations  of  the  force  emanating  from  the  sun  through  space; 
that  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  atmosphere  of  earth 
there  is  vibration  called  light,  and  that  the  eye  is  so  accurately 
and  wonderfully  constructed  that  those  vibrations  produce 
vision.  Only  a  limited  number,  however,  of  the  vibrations  of 
light  are  within  human  range,  and  that  limited  number  con- 
(21) 


90 

lines  you  to  a  very  narrow  realm  of  vision;  objects  too  small  for 
the  human  eye  to  perceive,  that  is,  the  vibrations  of  light  upon 
them  being-  so  infinitesimal  that  you  cannot  possibly  perceive 
them — make  no  impression  upon  the  eye.  Again,  the  atmos- 
phere is  filled  with  myriads  of  living  forms  of  which  at  the 
present  time,  by  visual  observation,  you  have  no  knowledge. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  objects  at  so  great  a  dis- 
tance, or  so  large,  that  they  do  not  make  any  impression  upon 
the  retina  of  the  eye,  and  you  cannot  by  any  possible  means 
perceive  them  without  distance  being  added  to  you  and  them, 
or  between  you  and  them  ;  or  if  they  are  far  distant,  you 
require  the  aid  of  telescopic  vision  to  enable  you  to  discover 
them. 

The  same  is  true  of  every  one  of  the  human  senses.  Sound 
is  but  vibration,  and  certain  sounds  that  transfer  a  certain 
number  of  vibrations  make  no  impression  upon  the  ear  except 
a  dull  or  loud  roar.  Certain  other  sounds,  like  a  very  faint 
whisper  in  a  very  large  room,  produce  no  vibration  whatever. 
The  ear  is  not  capable  of  extension  in  that  direction,  but  in  the 
universe  all  these  sights  and  sounds  exist,  requiring  only  the 
adjuncts  of  science  to  develop  them  to  your  perception.  But 
as  the  microscope  reveals  an  infinite  number  of  objects  not 
perceptible  to  the  human  eye  ;  as  the  telescope  brings  within 
the  rays  of  your  vision  objects  entirely  unperceived  before,  so 
the  added  perception  of  the  spirit  places  at  your  command 
numberless  vibrations  in  the  occult  world  that  were  before 
unfamiliar. 

Baron  Von  Riechenbach  discovered  through  clairvoyance 
—the  clairvoyant  being  under  his  mesmeric  control — that 
every  object  (not  only  metals,  but  plants  and  human  beings) 
is  surrounded  by  an  aura  ;  that  aura  is  more  or  less  magnetic, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  object.  Certain  metals  have 
very  distinct  magnetic  auras,  and  the  sensitive,  or  clairvoyant, 
under  superior  will-power,  by  the  awakening  of  the  inner 
sense  of  clairvoyance,  could  perceive  the  auras  surrounding 
these  various  minerals.  At  last  plants  were  tried,  and  each 
plant  had  an  aura  much  finer  than  the  rays  of  light  that  con- 
stitute the  colors  of  the  petal,  extending  in  a  certain  direction 
according  to  the  vibration  of  light  upon   the  flower.     Around 


1)1 

human  beings  also,  was  discovered  by  the  same  process,  an  aura 
partaking  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  magnetism,  but  of  a  mag- 
netism so  fine  that  it  could  not  be  detected  either  with  ;i  gal- 
vanic battery  or  any  process  of  electrical  instruments.  Nev- 
ertheless, an  emanation  which  might  be  termed  nerve  fluid, 
since  that  represents  a  finer  essence  than  the  vibration  <>t'  mag- 
netism or  electricity.  For  the  want  of  a  better  term  this  was 
denominated  Animal  Magnetism,  but  we  choose  to  call  it  the 
nerve  force.  This  force,  however,  entirely  imperceptible  to 
the  human  eye,  is  frequently  perceptible  to  the  touch  ;  and 
when  you  come  in  contact  with  an  individual  whose  nerve 
force  or  aura  is  regarded,  or  may  be  termed,  as  positive  to 
yourself,  you  are  affected  by  it  sometimes  unpleasantly,  some- 
times otherwise,  but  nevertheless  it  has  a  palpable  efi'ect. 

Some  persons  are  so  sensitive  to  these  nerve  auras,  or 
nerve  atmospheres,  that  they  cannot  bear  close  contact  in  a 
crowded  room  with  a  number  of  people;  and  if  a  very  refined 
and  highly  sensitive  and  nervous  organism  is  sitting  side  by  side 
with  one  the  reverse,  the  former  is  obliged  often  to  change  his 
or  her  seat.  This  is  frequently  done  unconsciously,  and  fre- 
quently these  nerve  auras  make  you  uncomfortable  with- 
out your  being  aware  of  what  disturbs  you.  Oftentimes  you 
change  your  seat  in  a  crowded  assemblage  or  in  public  con- 
veyances without  knowing  the  impulses  that  caused  you  to 
do  it. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  physical  objects,  without  reference 
to  the  mental  state,  have  this  impalpable  aura,  what  must  it 
be  when  accompanied  Avith  a  mental  condition  that  may,  per- 
haps, be  manifested  either  in  symp  tthy  or  very  much  adverse 
to  yours.  If  you  can  feel  heat  and  cold  that  are  not  visible  to 
the  eye,  and  can  feel  the  magnetic  aura  of  an  individual  that 
cannot  be  analyzed  by  any  sense  of  the  mere  physical  touch, 
then  "what  must  be  the  effect  of  minds  in  gross  condition  com- 
ing in  contact  with  those  who  are  more  refined  and  sensitive? 
There  is  a  direct  withdrawal  of  the  latter,  and  closing  up  as 
some  flowers,  like  the  mimosa,  close  their  petals  at  the  approach 
of  any  stranger's  touch. 

And  so  palpably  do  your  thoughts  affect  one  another  that 
the    shadow-,    or    darkness,    or    light     accompanies    you     the 


92 

shadow  enveloping-  yon  with  a  kind  of  mist,  the  radiance  pen- 
etrating the  darkness  of  others. 

This  palpable  thought-substance,  if  any,  must  be  that 
upon  which  spirits  must  work  in  all  mental  processes  con- 
nected with  man,  and  it  is  useless  to  say  that  it  is  either  mag- 
netism, electricity  or  nerve  force  merely.  That  particular  fac- 
ulty or  property  which  you  employ  as  individualized  spirits  to 
produce  a  vibration  upon  the  brain,  and  through  the  brain 
upon  the  nervous  system,  must  be  the  same  force  which  the 
spirits  employ  to  produce  a  vibration  upon  your  brain. 

One  will  ask,  ' '  How  am  I  to  be  certain,  if  I  receive  what  is 
called  an  impression,  whether  it  is  my  own  thought  or  the 
thought  of  another  spirit  ?"  I  can  explain  to  you  so  that  you 
can  perceive  just  as  distinctly  as  you  can  between  your  touch, 
when  you  touch  your  own  hand,  and  the  touch  of  another 
person. 

You  are  aware  when  you  touch  your  own  hand,  by  the 
double  sensation — not  only  the  sensation  of  the  hand  that 
you  touch,  but  of  the  hand  that  touches  the  other  portion.  On 
the  contrary,  when  another  person  touches  you,  you  have  but 
one  line  of  consciousness,  and  that  is  the  sensation  of  receiv- 
ing a  touch.  Now,  the  mental  process  by  which  you  arrive  at 
any  thought  is  a  double  process  ;  you  are  not  only  aware  of  the 
thought  vibrating  upon  the  brain,  or  within  the  brain,  but  you 
are  aware  of  the  consciousness  which  produces  the  thought — a 
subtle  thread  which  lays  along  the  intelligent  power  which  we 
term  volition,  and  must  be  the  vibration  upon  the  brain  cell. 
Now,  when  a  thought  enters  your  mind  without  this  dual  con- 
ciousness,  without  this  other  subtle  process,  a  distinct  thought 
that  is  just  as  palpable  as  the  dropping  of  a  drop  of  water  upon 
the  hand,  or  the  touch  of  another  person  upon  the  body 
— that  thought  is  not  yours  ;  that  is  an  impression.  Fre- 
quently such  impressions  come  in  the  whirl  of  business,  when 
your  mind  if  preoccupied  with  something  else,  as  distinctly  as 
if  a  pebble  were  dropped  into  a  clear  lake. 

Distrust  generally  those  impressions  which  are  in  direct 
accordance  with  your  wishes,  for  where  human  desire  comes 
in,  frequently  there  is  lack  of  clearness  in  the  perception  of 
truth,  particularly  if  your  desire  is  a  selfish  one. 


93 

Credit  your  impressions  and  intuitions  that  come  to  \<>\\ 
at  variance  with  your  selfish,  wishes,  forthey  arc  not  only  from 
the  inner  nature  of  your  own  spirit,  but  are  doubtless  the 
promptings  of  the  guardian  spirit  to  lead  you  aright.  The 
moral  energies  here  intervene,  and  frequently  an  impression 
may  be  in  direct  opposition  to  your  individual  wish  and  will. 
In  that  case  the  only  option  you 'have  is,  whether  it  be  right. 
But  in  that  sense  you  can  only  use  the  moral  nature  that  is  in 
your  possession.  But  if  it  be  upon  a  subject  that  you  have  no 
knowledge  of  and  no  judgment  on,  and  an  impression  dis- 
tinctly comes,  I  should  advise  obeying  it,  for  in  nearly  every 
instance  when  you  do  not  obey,  you  always  regret  it. 

The  power  of  physical  control  of  any  human  organism  is 
also  just  as  distinctly  traceable  where  an  intelligence  inter- 
venes that  causes  the  hand  to  write,  the  tongue  to  talk. 
There  is  a  distinct  pi'ocess  when  you  write  with  your  own 
hand;  you  not  only  govern  the  hand  to  make  the  required 
motion,  and  letters  and  words,  but  there  is  a  formulat)  d 
process — the  tracing  of  words  upon  paper,  which  how. 
mechanical  they  may  have  become  by  long  practice  and  use, 
you  are  particularly  well  aware  of  exercising,  and  especially  in 
the  construction  of  sentences.  Now,  if  your  hand  is  seized, 
and  made  to  write  without  any  of  that  mental  or  physical 
process  being  your  own,  it  is  madness  to  suppose  it  to  be 
yourself,  and  only  a  madman  could  think  of  attributing  it  to 
your  individual  mind.  But  you  ask,  "  In  cases  where  the 
writing  medium  knows  each  word  as  it  is  written,  how  then 
are  you  to  disentangle  the  message  from  the  mind  of  the 
medium?"  Here  again  I  revert  to  the  method  which  I  ] De- 
viously referred  to;  that  if  the  words  come  into  the  mind 
like  a  drop  of  water,  and  are  not  the  result  of  any  consecutive 
action  of  the  brain  vibration  of  the  medium's  own  will,  you 
can  distinctly  know  that  they  are  the  result  of  another  and 
independent  will  acting  upon  the  medium;  and  by  long  con- 
tinued study  in  mental  problems  of  this  kind,  the  one  who 
addresses  you  feels  competent  in  some  degree  to  state  that 
no  man  or  woman  of  ordinarily  clear  intelligence  can  he  mis- 
taken (if  he  or  she  observe  accurately)  when  an  impression 
is  from  the  spirit  or  wThen  it  is  from  their  own  minds. 
(-2) 


94 

There  are  many  who  say  that  these  subjects  are  so  involved 
in  mystery,  that  where  delusion  leaves  off  and  knowledge 
begins  is  so  intricate  a  problem  that  man  cannot  trust  to  the 
reception  of  impressions.  It  is  true  that  illusions  occur;  but 
it  is  nut  so  often  that  they  occur  in  connection  with  that  which 
is  spiritual,  as  with  that  which  is  physical.  The  conjuror  can 
deceive  your  senses  every  second,  and  any  ordinarily  clever 
trickster,  with  his  fingers  can  make  you  believe  and  see  things 
that  have  no  real  existence.  But  the  mind  is  not  so  easily 
deceived  as  the  senses,  and  a  careful  observer  of  his  or  her  own 
impressions  can  readily  distinguish  between  an  impression 
that  is  the  result  of  his  or  her  own  wish  and  thought,  and 
that  which  conies  from  an  outside  source.  But  supposing  the 
thought  to  be  absurd  ?  That  does  not  matter.  If  you  are 
gifted  with  very  great  common  sense  and  intelligence,  so  much 
the  more  evidence  that  it  is  not  your  own  thought.  If  a  man 
is  very  wise,  and  an  absurd  thought  enters  his  mind  without 
any  consecutive  association  with  his  daily  pursuits,  it  may 
come  from  an  outside  source  for  the  very  purpose  of  showing 
it  is  from  an  outside  source.  But  ordinarily  human  beings 
are  not  so  very  wise  that  they  are  not  liable  to  have  absurd 
thoughts  as  the  result  of  association  and  comparison,  and 
therefore  it  is  safer  to  suppose,  instead,  that  a  wise  thought  is 
the  result  of  impression.  There  are  those  who  say:  "  But  all 
this  is  in  the  realm  of  mind  and  of  mental  impression.  " 

The  physical  phenomena  are  introduced  to  show  you  that 
even  if  you  doubt  the  impression,  (which  is  the  nearest  to 
heaven,)  even  if  you  refuse  the  thought  that  is  traced  upon  the 
tablets  of  the  brain,  or  the  writing  performed  by  your  own  hand, 
you  cannot  attribute  it  to  the  imagination  of  the  table — not 
usually  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  imagination — when  that 
article  of  furniture  manifests  the  same  kind  of  intelligence  that 
you  do,  without  any  protoplasm,  or  brain  cell,  or  nerve  aura, 
or  other  fabric  upon  which  this  supposed  power  of  imagination 
can  exert  itself.  When  a  table,  musical  instrument,  or  other 
objects  not  endowed  with  native  intelligence,  manifest  pre- 
cisely the  same  order  of  intelligence  that  mankind  expresses, 
that  is  certainly  very  good  evidence  that  an  intelligence  is 
working  there  which  is  not  the  imagination. 


95 

But  you  say  it  may  be  the  imagination  of  those  who 
observe  it.  To  this  I  will  answer  that  imagination  is  at  the 
foundation  of  every  scientific  fact  in  the  universe  :  that  those 
who  are  capable  of  observing  the  phenomena  of  the  starry 
heavens  and  analyzing  chemically  the  atmospheres  around 
you,  have,  with  the  same  analysis  and  the  same  hind  of  obs<  r- 
vation,  witnessed  the  physical  phenomena  in  Spiritualism,  and 
if  one  is  imagination,  then  the  whole  realm  of  scientific  fact 
must  be  relegated  to  the  same  region.  It  is  not  imagination. 
Fifteen,  sixteen  or  twenty  witnesses  do  not  imagine  the  same 
thing;  were  this  so,  then  thirty  millions  of  people  on  the  earth 
to-day,  capable  of  observing  the  ordinary  facts  of  human  life, 
are,  of  course,  under  this  imaginary  power,  and  they  consti- 
tute the  average  representatives  of  humanity.  Such  an  expla- 
nation is  not  only  absurd,  but  appeals  to  no  intelligence  except- 
ing that  which  is  just  one  degree  removed  above  imbecility. 

We  are  now  speaking  of  facts;  and  if  it  is  the  nerve  aura, 
or  that  finer  power  surrounding  organic  bodies  upon  which 
spirits  act  to  produce  impressions  upon  the  brain,  or  upon  the 
hand  to  write,  or  upon  the  organs  of  speech  to  talk,  then  by 
the  contact  of  that  same  aura  with  tables,  chairs,  etc. ,  they 
are  moved;  for  every  object  with  which  human  beings  come  in 
contact  receives  some  portion  of  this  aura — the  medium  fur- 
nishing that  atmosphere  which  constitutes  the  mediumship. 
It  is  for  this  reason,  that  one  individual  is  surrounded  by 
more  of  this  particular  kind  of  aura  than  another,  or  in  whom 
that  particular  aura  is  more  active,  and  can  be  more  actively 
emjuoyed,  that  spirits  are  enabled  to  produce  these  manifesta- 
tions in  the  presence  of  what  are  called  Media.  Media  are  not 
only  those  who  give  forth  from  their  systems,  under  spirit 
presence  and  power,  more  of  this  nerve  aura,  but  they  also 
receive  more   from  the  surrounding  sitters. 

In  every  seance  a  double  process  is  going  on;  every  indi- 
vidual in  the  seance  room  furnishes  something  of  this  aura 
which  spirits  employ.  But  that  is  not  furnished  directly  ;  it  is 
first  given  to  the  medium,  then  it  is  employed  by  spirits,  and 
exercised  with  reference  to  the  production  of  physical  manifes- 
tations by  the  action  of  will.  One  mind  influences  another 
human  body  by  the  action  of  the  spirit  will,  which,  of  course. 


96 

is  more  subtle  and  broad,  more  in  contact  with  the  very  forces 
and  direct  nature  of  things. 

The  table,  chair,  piano,  musical  instrument  of  whatever 
kind,  is  performed  upon  by  the  influence  of  this  intervening 
atmosphere,  which  is  humanized  atmosphere,  (if  we  may  use 
that  term,)  and  therefore  it  is  necessary  at  the  present  time  to 
have  mediums  in  circles.  Mediums  are  sensitives,  and  they 
act  as  receptacles  or  reservoirs  for  this  spirit  power  which 
emanates  from  every  human  being',  and  which  is  concentrated 
upon  them. 

As  in  a  room  full  of  musicians  one  is  chosen,  perhaps 
most  gifted  in  that  divine  art,  to  represent  the  whole,  so  in  a 
room  full  of  human  beings,  one  may  be  more  endowed  than 
another  with  this  particular  kind  of  atmosphere,  and  upon 
that  the  spirit  world  are  enabled  to  exercise  their  volition  in 
the  moving  of  bodies. 

You  say  this  may  be  very  clear,  but  it  is  scarcely  under- 
standable. I  told  you  it  would  not  be  at  the  beginning;  but 
this  is  a  correct  statement  of  the  method,  and  if  your  under- 
standing is  not  commensurate  with  it,  it  is  only  necessary  for 
you  to  take  the  stepping-stone  that  will  lead  to  this  conclusion 
by  the  careful  analysis  of  nature,  and  by  the  analogy  which 
the  illustration  affords. 

If  it  is  possible  for  a  disembodied  spirit  to  control  one 
atom  of  matter  by  the  power  of  volition,  or  the  word  I  prefer 
to  use,  clairvoulance,  or  clear-willing,  then  all  the  phenomena 
in  ancient  and  modern  times  ascribed  to  miracle  are  here  ex- 
plained— not  that  miracle  is  less,  but  it  admits  you  into  a 
realm  where  miracles  are  the  natural  expression  of  life. 

Everything  connected  with  the  world  of  mind,  whether 
it  be  human  beings  here  or  the  disembodied  spirit,  is  miracu- 
lous. Why  ?  Because  it  is  the  result  of  the  action  of  superior 
laws  not  known  in  the  world  of  physical  science,  of  a  super- 
science,  so  to  speak,  that  forms  the  entire  fabric  of  the  spiritual 
universe,  and  is  miraculous  because  it  is  supernatural. 

I  like  the  word  supernatural.  It  means  that  which  is 
above  the  ordinary  laws  of  nature;  that  which  sets  them  aside 
and  is  beyond  them;  and  as  matter  is  under  the  control  of  laws 
that  are  regular  and  in  certain  routine,  so  spiritual  forms  are 


97 

under  the  control  of  laws  thai  are  the  result  of  volition;  and 
the  only  absolute  law  which  can  be  said  to  govern  any  phe- 
nomena connected  with  the  spirit  of  man  when  disembodied, 
is  the  law  of  superior  will,  that  will  being  the  result  of  know- 
ledge, of  goodness,  of  spiritual  attributes . 

By  will  we  mean  that  which  commands;  thai  which  is 
able  to  command  by  its  superiority  of  force 

As  stated  before,  the  great  solvent  of  the  universe  of  spirit 
and  its  contact  with  mortals  is  the  solvent  of  human  sympathy 
and  of  spiritual  love;  but  the  methods  whereby  that  love  acts 
upon  the  various  forces  that  are  yet  hidden  and  dormant  in 
your  atmosphere  and  in  your  spiritual  being,  must  be  the 
result  of  slow  education  and  constant  unfoldment.  Neverthe- 
less, each  manifestation  of  Modern  Spiritualism,  every  form  of 
mediuniship,  eveiy  expression  of  the  will-power  separate  from 
yourself  and  separate  from  the  organic  processes  of  daily  exis- 
tence, forms  a  priceless  fact  in  the  treasure-house  of  this 
wonderful  system  of  philosophy  and  religion.  And  it  behooves 
those  who  are  receiving  phonomena  daily,  not  only  to  observe 
carefully,  if  possible,  the  conditions  under  which  they  come 
and  to  keep  a  careful  register  of  all  those  facts,  that  they  may 
be  afterwards  employed  to  illustrate  the  principles  upon  which 
this  communion  takes  place,  but  above  all  and  beyond  all, 
interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  absolute  science  of  earth.  There 
can  be  no  formulated  statement,  in  the  present  stage  of  human 
thought,  that  will  adequately  portray  the  influence  or  force 
that  spirits  exercise  in  their  contact  with  earth. 

This  you  do  know,  that  all  mundane  laws  seem  to  be  set 
aside  ;  that  the  law  of  gravitation  attracting  bodies  toward  the 
earth;  that  the  law  by  which  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere 
affects  organic  substance  ;  that  the  cohesive  properties  of 
matter,  and  every  individual  property  which  matter  is  supposed 
to  possess,  pass  away  under  the  presence  of  this  superior 
force.  An  intervening  power  sweeps  in,  clear,  distinct,  indi- 
vidualized, swaying  the  minds  and  senses  of  man  by  its 
wonderful  presence,  and  peforming  upon  bodies  and  minds 
of  human  beings  the  miracle  of  revelation. 

What  I   mean  by   revelation  is    knowledge  derived  from 
apriori  sources;  revelation  that  is  born  of  the  spirit,  that  does 
(23) 


98 

not  require  the  usual  attributes  and  processes  of  intellectual 
study  to  arrive  at  it.  And  nothing  more  distinctly  proves 
revelation  and  the  supernatural  character  of  all  such  manifes- 
tations than  Modern  Spiritualism. 

Here  let  me  analyze  these  words.  Spiritualists  are  averse, 
as  a  rule,  to  the  use  of  the  word  supernatural.  For  my  own 
part,  having  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  words,  I  choose  that 
word  to  express  everything  that  comes  under  the  category  of 
the  manifestations  of  ancient  or  modern  spiritualism.  It  is 
supernatural  ;  it  neither  comes  in  with  the  tides  nor  goes  out 
with  them  ;  it  does  not  come  in  Spring,  nor  in  Summer,  nor 
Winter  especially  ;  it  is  not  affected  by  the  change  of  season 
or  the  changes  of  earthly  atmosphere.  It  conies  in  heat  and 
in  cold,  when  it  is  rainy  or  when  it  is  dry,  in  low  altitudes  or 
in  high  altitudes  ;  it  comes  in  consonance  with  the  super- force 
of  the  universe,  which  is  the  power  of  will. 

And  if  mediums  are  affected  by  surrounding  atmosphere, 
by  heat  and  cold,  by  joy  and  sorrow  which  intervenes,  then 
it  takes  them  out  of  their  own  condition,  and  forms  for  itself 
an  atmosphere  to  produce  its  own  manifestations.  This  is 
Spiritualism — is  supernatural. 

The  natural  laws  of  the  universe  are  subject  to  routine 
and  certainly  unintelligent  in  the  way  of  direct,  conscious 
methods,  but  governed  by  certain  fixed  laws  ;  and  Spiritualism 
is  as  separate  from  natural  law  as  the  engineer  is  from  his 
engine.      This  is  what  I  mean. 

There  are  many  who  object  to  the  word  miracle.  For  my 
own  part  I  wish  to  restore  that  word  to  its  legitimate  use  ;  to 
the  vocabulary  of  Modern  Spiritualism.  Anything  is  a  mira- 
cle which  is  the  working  of  a  wonder  independently  of  the 
usual  laws  of  nature.  Every  process  of  the  mind,  human 
affection,  human  hatred,  human  will,  is  a  miracle.  That 
which  is  the  result  of  an  organic  process,  the  beating  of  the 
heart,  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  the  endosmose  and  exos- 
mose  action  of  the  fluids  of  the  body — these  are  natural. 

But  the  miraculous  part  is,  that  thought  intervenes,  and 
every  effect  of  mind  upon  matter  is  a  miracle. 

The  same  is  true  with  that  which  comes  in  consonance 
with  spiritual  laws  and  processes  of   Materia   Medica.     The 


99 

methods  of  physical  surgery  may  or  may  riol  be  in  accordance 
with  natural  laws.  They  are  certainly  in  accordance  with 
very  physical  and,  sometimes,  very  bungling  laws.  Bui  that 
particular  super-science  which,  by  the  power  of  will,  sets  at 
naught  the  usual  surgical  methods;  straightens  the  deformed 
limb,  gives  sight  to  the  eye.  hearing  to  the  ear.  as  countless 
numbers  of  cases  in  the  past  attest,  and  as  there  are  millions 
of  living  witnesses  to  testify  to-day  that  is  the  working  of  a 
miracle;  that  is  the  intervention  of  the  power  of  the  spirit, 
restoring  and  adjusting  the  physical  form  instead  of  theappli- 
caation  of  any  external  remedies.  It  is  not  by  any  physical 
process  that  this  is  wrought,  but  by  a  process  that  begins 
inversely  with  the  physical,  and  restores  the  body  as  love  does. 

Have  you  ever  witnessed  or  seen  recorded  in  medical 
books,  how  an  invalid,  confined  to  her  couch  for  years,  by  the 
return  of  an  absent  friend,  a  great  tide  of  joy  flooding  through 
all  the  being  has  restored  that  which  medical  skill  in  vain 
has  tried  to  restore  ?  That  was  a  spiritual  wonder  ;  that  was 
a  miracle— a  miracle  of  joy. 

Have  you  ever  heard  or  known  or  experienced  a  case  of 
love,  where  after  long  doubting  or  long  waiting  the  loved 
object  was  restored,  and  instantly  the  miracle  of  health  is 
wrought  upon  the  invalid  or  the  sufferer?     That  is  a  miracle. 

By  the  same  process,  when  death  is  robbed  of  its  terror, 
and  human  life  of  its  depression  ;  when  your  loved  ones  bridge 
over  the  space  between  you  and  the  world  of  spirits,  and  your 
physical  maladies  sink  into  insignificance  before  the  light  of 
the  soul,  healing  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  or  by  the  power  of 
will  from  the  spirit  world  will  no  longer  be  rare,  but  of  con- 
stant occurrence.  Miracles  will  be  wrought  daily,  and  an 
inverse  process  of  life  wTill  be  poured  upon  the  world  by  this 
wonderful  power  of  volition. 

More  than  this  :  That  which  is  rare,  unusual  and  diffi- 
cult to-day,  in  the  coming  time  will  become  the  ordinary  and 
accepted  method  of  life.  Spirit  communion  will  be  no  longer 
difficult  nor  beset  with  the  doubts  that  intervene  between  you 
now. 

Spirits   are  not  doubtful,  but  mortals.     Spirits  do  not  live 
in  the  senses  now,  but  in  the  spirit  ;  and  when   your  natures 


100 

have  become  so  accurately  taught  that,  as  you  have  accus- 
tomed yourself  to  railways,  to  telegraph  messages,  and  the  con- 
dition and  processes  of  science  in  your  daily  life,  so  death  will 
no  longer  be  an  inseparable  barrier,  and  the  daily  interchange 
of  thought  between  the  two  worlds,  which  some  experience 
now — which  thousands  do — will  then  become  the  possession 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  ;  the  great  flood-tide  of  miracles 
will  be  turned  upon  the  world,  and  those  forces  that  now  lie 
waiting  to  your  hand — wonderful,  potent,  all-powerful — will 
be  yours.  Then  indeed  disease  will  be  the  exception,  not  the 
rule.  Then  indeed  suffering  will  be  the  exception;  all  human 
misery  be  turned  aside  by  the  great  wonder  of  that  knowledge 
that  will  enable  you  to  vanquish  the  physical  pain  that  you 
now  yield  to,  and  will  enable  your  spirit  friends  to  vanquish  in 
you  the  darkness  that  prohibits  their  light  from  entering. 

I  am  speaking  prophetically,  but  it  is  the  prophecy  of  an 
actual  fact  already  in  existence  somewhere.  You  only  wait 
for  its  revelation  as  you  wait  for  the  revolution  of  planets,  for 
the  changes  of  the  sun  that  bring  many  summers,  or  for  any 
other  fixed  and  accomplished  power  that  is  waiting  for  the 
growth  and  unfoldment  of  the  world. 

Meanwhile  accept  such  ministrations  as  come  to  you,  even 
in  your  imperfect  and  shadowed  existence,  as  the  heralders  of 
that  grander  light,  that  loftier  and  diviner  ministration  that 
shall  one  day  triumphantly  take  its  place  beside  you  in  the 
world,  and  miracles  will  be  the  order  of  each  day,  and  super- 
natural existence  will  be  the  native  atmosphere  of  the  soul. 


101 


Mediumship. 


You  will  remember  the  excellent  chapter  on  spiritual  gifts 
by  our  elder   brother,  Paul,  when   he  says  :   "  Now,  brethren, 

concerning-  spiritual  gifts  I  would  not  have  you  ignorant." 
And  then  he  proceeds  in  a  marvelously  clear  and  concise  man- 
ner to  state  the  nature  of  the  different  gifts,  and  afterwards  to 
indicate  under  what  circumstances  they  should  be  exercised. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  however,  that  our  brethren  of  the 
Church  not  only  steadily  refuse  to  consider,  excepting  seldom, 
this  chapter  on  spiritual  gifts,  but  also  refuse  to  apply  it  in 
any  way  to  the  manifestations  of  Modern  Spiritualism,  say- 
ing that  spiritual  gifts  have  departed  ;  that  they  were  only 
exercised  in  the  time  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  or  previously, 
and  were  not  intended  for  general  observation. 

If  not  intended  for  general  observation,  how  can  we  be 
assured  that  any  of  that  which  is  recorded  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment belongs  to  the  present  time  ? — that  the  Golden  Rule,  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or  any  advice  given  by  Christ  to  his 
disciples,  is  intended  for  Christians  of  the  present  day  to  fol- 
low ?  If  spiritual  gifts  are  to  be  ignored  by  the  Church,  what 
are  the  "  signs"  that  were  "to  follow  them  that  believe,"  and 
how  are  they  to  be  aware  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  with  them 
when  the  same  gifts  are  not  exercised  to-day? 

There  are  others  who  say  :  ,  "  What  is  the  necessity  of 
mediumship  ?  Why  must  mediums  be  employed '?"  And  1 1 1  (  \ 
contend  that  one  can  hold  direct  communion  with  God  with- 
out the  necessity  of  intermediate  messengers  ;  and  many  in  the 
Church  claim  that  this  is  the  only  method  of  divine  revelation 
to  man.  If  so,  then  why  are  they  so  steadily  and  constantly 
perusing  and  pursuing  the  records  of  the  past  ?  What  the 
necessity  for  the  Church  ?  Whence  the  hierarchy  at  Rome 
and  in  England  that  is  made  the  law  and  the  ordinance  of  the 
Church  ?  Why  should  there  be  ecclesiastical  schools  and  col- 
leges ?  Why  the  necessity  of  a  Christian  clergy,  since  everj 
man,  if  he  is  only  to  receive  communication  concerning  the 
standard  faith  direct  from  God,  must  be  his  own  medium  ? 
(24) 


102 

But  as  they  steadily  and  strenuously  maintain  that  the 
Bible  is  the  recorded  word  of  God,  then  whence  were  the  mes- 
sengers and  angels  who  revealed  that  word  ?  And  why  were 
these  mediatorial  instruments  employed  to  speak  the  word  of 
God  to  man  ?■  Why  not  give  it  directly  ?  What  was  the 
necessity  of  the  angel  talking  with  Abram  and  Lot  ?  And 
why  were  all  the  signs  and  wonders  given  to  the  prophets  ? 
And  why  were  there  any  projmets  if  the  word  of  God  is  spoken 
directly  to  each  human  life  *?  And  above  all,  (I  say  it  rever- 
ently,) why  the  necessity  of  a  mediator  if  man  only  receives 
his  intelligence  of  supernal  things  directly  from  God  ?  Is  not 
that  adequate  *?  And  if  Jesus  is  the  final  revelation,  why 
accept  Paul  or  John  ?  Why  not  close  with  the  works  of 
Christ,  and  not  consider  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  anything  ? 
If  spiritual  teachers,  interpreters  of  the  word  of  God,  are  nec- 
essary at  all,  why  may  not  an  added  word  be  necessary  ?  Why 
not  another  and  another  teacher  ?  And  why  not,  if  the  gifts 
of  the  spirit  are  indicated  by  that  which  Christians  perform, 
why  not  the  gifts  of  healing,  of  tongues,  of  interpretation  of 
tongues,  and  other  workings  of  wonders  to-day  as  well  as  in 
the  olden  time  ? 

No  theologian  can  answer  these  questions.  They  belong 
to  a  region  of  thought  that  he  steadily  puts  from  him,  and 
except  for  theological  purposes,  he  refuses  to  admit  the  pres- 
ent intervention  of  angels  or  spiritual  messengers  with  the 
affairs  of  men.  But  let  a  saint  of  the  Church  pass  away, 
receiving  at  the  last  minute  ,the  conscious  presence  of  angelic 
ministrations,  and  seeing  with  clear  vision  the  angels  that 
attend  to  point  the  way  heavenward,  and  the  Church  is  not 
slow  to  record  it  as  evidence  of  the  presence  of  God's  holy 
spirit.  Let  a  revival  of  religion  spread  throughout  the  land,  or 
that  which  is  termed  such,  and  the  healing  of  some  one  who 
has  been"  ill  for  years  is  accomplished  under  the  excitement 
and  stimulus  and  prayerful  influence  of  the  Church,  it  is 
heralded  through  the  whole  land  as  another  of  the  evidences  of 
God's  presence  among  men. 

Miracles  at  the  present  da}'  within  the  Church  are  per- 
mitted ;  outside  of  the  Church  they  are  denied.  The  only 
difference  between  to-day  and  the  time  of  the  Jewish  dispell- 


L03 

sation  is,  that  then  the  Jews  refused  to  receive  anything  thai 
did  not  come  within  the  accepted  pale  and  letter  of  the  Church 
or  within  the  Temple,  and  said.  "  Can  any  good  come  oxii  of 
Nazareth?"  The  Nazareth  of  to-day  is  Spiritualism  ;  is  out- 
side of  the  Church  ;  and  whatsoever  claims  to  have  the  stum]) 
of  spiritual  manifestation  is  denied  as  impossible,  while  the 
Church  claims  that  prayer  and  the  ministering  of  angels 
among  the  saints  is  one  of  the  accepted  possibilities  of  the 
Church  at  the  present  time. 

Let  us  be  consistent,  at  least,  and  not  deny  to  others  that 
which  we  claim  for  ourselves.  As  Spiritualists,  let  us  sel  the 
example  of  a  broader  charity  and  deeper  philosophy  by  includ- 
ing the  manifestations  within  the  Church  as  a  part  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  Spiritualism.  We  can  afford  to  do  this,  since  in 
looking  over  the  gifts  enumerated  by  Paul,  there  is  not  one  of 
them  which  every  intelligent  Spiritualist  has  not  witnessed  in 
the  last  thirty  years,  and  there  is  not  one  of  them  that  is  not 
in  existence  to-day  as  a  portion  of  the  express  form  and  mani- 
festation that  Spiritualism  presents  itself   in. 

"  The  gifts  of  the  spirit  "  is,  according  to  the  understand- 
ing of  your  speaker,  the  correct  term.  There  are  many  Spirit- 
ualists who,  in  order  to  be  very  scientific,  refuse  to  be  at  all 
religious,  and  therefore,  in  order  to  be  consistent,  deny  the 
manifestations  of  past  time,  or  think  they  were  only  medium- 
ship.  That  word  only  is  quite  unnecessary,  since  mediumship 
can  include  all  of  the  past  and  all  of  the  present  without  in 
the  least  degree  detracting  from  the  former  or  unduly  extoll- 
ing the  latter.  If  the  air  is  a  medium  by  which  the  rays  of 
light  are  conveyed  to  your  vision  ;  if  the  optic  nerve  and  the 
visual  organ  is  itself  the  medium  by  which  the  consciousness 
of  light  is  conveyed  to  the  sensormm,  there  is  nothing  to  for- 
bid the  light  of  all  spiritual  presence  shining  through  what- 
ever atmosphere,  personality  or  presence  that  may  be  neces- 
sary to  convey  spiritual  meaning  unto  man. 

I  refuse  either  to  cast  aside  the  records  of  the  past,  or  to 
belittle  those  of  the  present,  by  denying  admission  to  all  facts 
in  the  past  or  in  the  present  time  that-  clearly  indicate  a  spirit- 
ual origin;  and  I  wish  to  draw  the  line  of  distinction  most 
clearly   and  methodically  between  that  class  of  Spiritualists 


104 

who  say,  "  But  mediumship  is  only  the  result  of  natural 
law,"  and  that  other  claim  of  theologians  that  it  is  a  divine 
gift.  Both  are  correct,  but  both  state  only  a  portion  of  the 
truth. 

A  natural  law  can  be  a  divine  gift  as  well'  as  any  other. 
I  Avon  Id  like  to  have  those  who  say  mediumship  is  a  natural 
law,  tell  me  under  what  circumstances  either  of  generic 
processes,  of  germinal  growth,  or  of  external  evolution,  they 
can  produce  mediumship,  if  they  have  discovered  that  it  is 
only  a  natural  law  ?  I  would  like  to  have  them  say  what  tem- 
perament, what  particular  form  of  human  being,  must  be  neces- 
sary to  make  mediumship  possible.  I  would  like  to  have  them 
declare  in  what  particular  direction  they  have  traced  medium- 
ship  as  the  Avorking  of  natural  law  only,  and  Iioav  they  can  be 
certain  that  it  has  its  origin  in  any  one  of  the  generic  pro- 
cesses of  nature. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  who  say  that  it  is  the  gift  of  God 
alone,  deny  the  presence  of  angelic  ministrants  and  media- 
torial agents  of  times  past,  and   refuse  to  accept  the  whole 
recorded  wTord,  Avherein,  for  more  than  fifty  times,  God  gave 
his  message  to  man  in  the  record  of  the  Bible  through  media- 
torial agents,  either  of  angels,  ministering  spirits,  prophets  or 
men.     Clearly,  then,  spiritual  gifts  are  a  direct  inpouring  of 
another  intelligence  and  spiritual  power  into  man,  and  if  man 
had  no  spiritual   nature,  he  could  certainly  ha\re  no  spiritual 
gifts.       But  Avhatever    spiritual  gifts  he   receiA'es,  is  neither 
dependent  upon  his  temperament,  his  education,  his  station  in 
life,  nor  any  physical  or  earthly  human  condition  whatsoever. 
The  fishermen  chosen  by  Christ  for  his  disciples  clearly  indi- 
cate that  station  Avas  not  a  consideration  at  that  time,  and 
also,  that  he  chose  to  set  at  naught  the  sarcedotal  rules  of  the 
Hebraic  Church   by  making  his  chief  apostles  those  who  had 
the  learning  of  the  Church.     Clearly  the  fact  that  Paul  became 
a  convert  to  Christianity   proves  that  intellectual  culture  did 
not  debar  every  one  from  being  a  disciple  or  the  possessor  of 
spiritual  gifts  ;  and  clearly  the  fact  that  those  in  high  author- 
ity came  to  Christ  recognizing  his  gifts,  as  Avell  as  those  who 
were  lowly,  proves  that  the  recognition  of  them,   (i.  e.,  these 
gifts,)  does  not  belong  to  any  class,  or  state,  or  human  con- 
dition. 


105 

:i"'From  long  study,  too  brief,  however,  to  be  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  all  the  laws  pertaining  to  this  importani  sub- 
ject, your  speaker  is  persuaded  that  there  is  no  secret  of  phys- 
iology, no  secret  of  anatomy,  none  of  the  nervous  system,  none 
of  the  physical'structure,  none  of  the  mechanism  that  surrounds 
the  individual,  that  will  explain  the  fact  of  mediumship. 
Mediums  are  found  among  children,  among  gray-haired  sires 
ami  matrons,  among  men  and  women  of  middle  age.  Mediums 
are  found  in  all  classes  and  conditions  of  life,  from  the  I 
man  prince  or  baron  to  the  peasant;  from  the  farmer  or  mech- 
anic to  the  lawyer,  physician,  and  clergyman.  Clearly  no 
temperament  is  indicated  by  mediumship;  for,  very  often. 
nervous  temperaments,  those  of  bilious  temperament,  those  of 
sanguine  temperament,  are  mediums.  Health  makes  no  differ- 
ence; for  there  are  those  in  feeble  health  and  those  inmost 
excellent  condition  of  body  and  mind,  who  are  equally  good  as 
mediums.  Clearly  the  educational  qualification  is  nothing;  for 
from  among  those  who  are  entirely  unlearned  in  schools  arc 
chosen  some  who  are  the  most  prominent  mediums  of  your  own 
or  other  countries.  Certain  it  is  that  being  a  professor  does  not 
prevent  mediumship,  unless  the  incrustation  of  learning  and 
self-conceit  be  such  that  the  spiritual  powers  are  turned  away 
by  that.  Certainly  the  fact  of  being  a  minister  of  the  Gospel 
does  not  seem  to  indicate  spiritual  gifts  to-day,  as  it  did  in  the 
time  of  Christ,  but  it  is  not  necessarily  a  barrier,  since  we  know 
in  many  instances  that  the  clergy  are  inspired,  and  since  we  have 
in  our  knowledge  the  fact  that  several  clergy  in  this  country 
and  in  England  write  their  sermons  distinctly  under  spiritual 
control  and  dictation,  showing  an  acknowledgment  in  private 
life  at  least  of  this  wonderful  power;  while  the  Rev.  Heber 
Newton,  now  on  trial  for  heresy,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Newman, 
have  at  their  own  firesides  received  distinct  direction  and 
indication  of  that  which  they  have  announced  in  public. 

Manifestly,  then,  mediumship  is  neither  generic,  organic, 
physiological,  nor  has  it  to  do  with  the  education  of  the  schools 
of  the  present  day.  It  must  be  then  a  spiritual  gift  ;  some- 
thing bestowed  or  called  into  existence  by  the  action  of  a 
power  independent  of  the  individual.  But  there  can  be  no 
certain  indication  to  whom  this  power  will  come,  under  what 
(25) 


106 

circumstances  it  will  come,  or  what  are  the  requisite  conditions 
for  developing  or  expressing  the  power.  Certain  it  is  that  those 
conditions,  whatever  they  are,  are  spiritual  ;  and  he  who 
would  endeavor  either  to  cultivate  mediumship  or  to  explain 
it  from  a  purely  physical  or  scientific  basis  will  be  baffled  the 
first  step  that  he  takes  ;  for  he  cannot  form  one  of  the  terms 
that  will  not  in  the  next  step  be  overthrown,  nor  formulate 
one  theory  that  the  very  next  experiment  that  he  tries  will  not 
distinctly  contradict. 

An  intelligence  acting  in  the  super-atmosphere  upon  the 
physical  and  mental  structures  of  men  possessing  the  know- 
ledge of  how  to  control  the  occult  forces  that  relate  to  man's 
spiritual  nature,  must  necessarily  use  those  forces,  and  apply 
them  independently  of  man's  will  or  volition.  If  in  accordance 
with  the  will  and  volition,  it  is  because  the  will  has  been 
taught  or  bent  to  the  inclination  of  superior  will,  not  because 
the  will  that  is  controlled  desires  it. 

Spiritual  truth,  like  the  first  principles  of  sunlight,  pure 
air  and  the  elements  of  nature,  must  be  under  the  control  of 
the  superior  forces  of  the  universe.  By  superior  I  do  not 
mean  greater  than  you  will  be  ;  but  the  majority  of  the  intelli- 
gence in  the  universe  cannot  be  at  any  one  time  upon  the 
earth  ;  it  must  be  disembodied.  It  must  be  that  the  larger 
proportion  of  intelligence  in  the  universe  is  outside  of  human 
lives,  since  in  the  millions  of  spirits  who  are  disembodied 
from  this  planet — to  say  nothing  of  those  probably  disem- 
bodied from  other  planets,  who  have  progressed  even  in  the 
slightest  degree  beyond  the  condition  of  the  planets'  them- 
selves when  they  lived  there;  there  must  be  by  this  time, 
such  an  accumulative  power  of  spiritual  force  in  the  spirit 
world,  as  to  constitute  a  positive  element  at  all  times  and 
under  all  circumstances  above  the  intelligence  of  man. 

Now,  mediumship  is  whatsoever  and  whomsoever  is  neces- 
sary to  convey  the  message  of  the  spirit  world  to  man.  A 
table  may  be  a  medium,  a  horse  or  dog  may  be  a  medium,  and 
human  beings  may  be  the  highest  mediums  for  communi- 
cating to  themselves  or  others  ;  and  he  who  refuses  to  accept 
the  ministration  of  spirits,  and  claims  that  the  only  source  of 
his  wisdom  is  direct  from  God,  shuts  himself  off  from  God  by 


107 

his  peculiar  egotism,  from  the  ministrations  of  all  his  kind; 
since  no  human  being  is  independent  of  every  other  human 
being-,  and  since  the  direct  voice  of  God  to  man  has  nothing 
to  do  with  that  which  we  term  mediumship,  or  the  distinct 
ministration  called  revelation.  These  are  words  spoken  by 
intermediate  agents — those  who  perceive  higher  truths,  and 
hand  them  down  to  others.  All  are  not  prophets,  but  it  is 
possible  for  all  to  become  prophets  ;  all  are  not  apostles,  but  it 
is  possible  for  all  to  become  apostles  ;  all  are  not  workers  of 
miracles,  all  are  not  teachers,  all  are  not  endowed  with  inter- 
pretation of  tongues  ;  but  there  is  no  distinct  line  by  which 
you  can  trace  these  gifts  other  than  in  the  source  from  whence 
they  come. 

By  this  we  mean  that  the  medium  through  whom  we  now 
address  you  neither  possesses  a  different  organization  nor 
different  temperament,  so  far  as  the  gift  of  mediumship  is  con- 
cerned, from  those  of  other  persons  present  who  might  equally 
well  have  been  chosen  as  the  instrument  of  our  work;  that  the 
gift  of  speech  which  is  now  hers  might  equally  have  been  given 
to  any  one  of  you.  And  more  than  this:  so  distinctly  is 
mediumship  a  gift  and  no  part  of  the  individual  will  or  organ- 
ism, that  it  has  been  known  to  be  transferred  instantly  from 
one  to  another — the  gift  leaving  one  medium  and  instantly 
taking  possession  of  another,  and  the  other  entirely  different 
in  temperament,  in  organization,  in  physical  being  and  in 
mental  culture.  To  illustrate  :  When  the  medium  through 
whom  we  now  address  you  was  twelve  years  of  age,  her 
former  teacher,  (who  was  greatly  puzzed  over  the  gift  that  had 
come  to  the  child,)  said,  mentally;  "Now,  if  this  be  an  outside 
power,  why  can  it  not  take  possession  of  me?"  Instantly 
the  spirit  who  was  controlling  this  medium  censed  to  control 
her,  and  the  teacher,  much  to  her  surprise,  became  possessed 
of  the  same  intelligence  who  had  spoken  through  this  medium. 
and  commenced  to  talk,  being  conscious  all  the  while  that 
she  was  speaking,  but  powerless  to  prevent  it,  and  announced 
the  very  name  that  had  previously  been  speaking  through  the 
child  medium.  This  experiment  has  been  frequently  tried 
with  similar  results. 

So,  when  one  has  a  gift   of  mediumship  and  prizes  it  but 


108 

little,  the  gift  is  often  taken  from  them  and  bestowed  upon 
another.  But  the  desire  cannot  produce  the  gift,  for  we  know 
of  hundreds  of  excellent  people,  with  the  best  aspirations  and 
the  purest  wishes,  who  most  earnestly  desire  to  be  mediums, 
and  if  mind,  or  imagination,  or  individual  will-power,  had 
anything  to  do  with  it,  they  would  have  long  ago  been  medi- 
ums, but  not  one  indication  of  mediums  hip  can  they  receive. 
While  others,  who  seem  to  value  the  gift  but  little  and  who 
seemingfly  trifle  with  it,  are  made  the  instruments  of  most  won- 
derful  manifestations.  Is  not  this  evidence  that  it  has  not  its 
origin  in  the  individual  volition,  or  yet  even  the  association  of 
the  individual,  and  that  the  selection  is  made  without  refer- 
ence to  your  human  wishes  or  desires,  and  that  if  you  were  to 
be  consulted  you  would,  perhaps,  be  mediums  to-day  and  not 
mediums  to-morrow;  mediums  for  convenience  and  not  for  love; 
mediums  for  personal  and  individual  gratification,  and  not  for 
the  benefit  of  the  world  ?  Those  are  taken  who  can  be  best 
used,  even  sometimes  through  their  selfishness,  for  the  better 
promulgation  of  the  facts  and  phenomena  to  the  world;  while 
others  are  chosen  for  instruments  because  of  their  spiritual 
endowments. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  whole  subject  of  medium- 

■J 

ship  must  be  distinctly  traced  to  the  plane  of  spiritual  gifts 
-in  order  to  be  satisfactorily  explained,  and  this  brings  us  to  a 
^till  broader  proposition. 

Spiritualism,  as  well  as  mediumship,  are  both  under  the 
pontrol  of  intelligent  minds  who  know  what  they  are  doing  ; 
they  are  not  simply  trying  experiments,  and  who  do  not,  either 
in  accordance  with  human  desires  or  human  conditions,  change 
the  ministrations  to  the  caprice  of  the  individual  on  earth. 

Mediumship  is  a  unit.  By  this  I  mean  that  the  most  insig- 
nificant phase  of  manifestation,  as  it  is  termed — take  for  instance 
the  rapping  upon  a  table  or  chair — may  be  equally  valuable 
with  the  most  elocpient  utterance.  There  arc  those  among  our 
theological  friends,  as  well  as  those  among  our  highly  intellec- 
tual and  cultured  friends,  who  say,  "  Why  should  spirits,  wise, 
and  great,  and  good,  descend  to  such  insignificant  methods  as 
rapping  upon  tables  and  chairs  V"  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  but 
has  it   ever  occurred   to   you   that  the  click  of  the  telegraphic 


109 

instrument  where  you  are  receiving  a  message  from  your  loved 
son  or  daughter,  is  a  very  insignificant  method  of  communica- 
tion ?  Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  the  quill  with  which 
Shakspeare  might  have  written  his  splendid  plays,  was  a  very 

insignificant  thing  for  the  production  of  poems  ?  And  that 
Dante,  writing  his  Paradisso  at  the  end  of  a  goose  quill,  is  a 
most  ridiculous  picture?  Yet  I  make  no  doubt  that  as  a 
scholar  you  are  quite  ready  to  accept  the  poem  without  refer- 
ence to  the  instrument  through  which  it  was  given.  You  arc 
quite  ready  to  accept  the  telegraphic  message  from  your 
beloved  friend,  even  though  a  clicking  seems  meaningless  to 
you;  and  I  make  no  doubt  that  if  you  stood  by  the  window 
where  your  immortal  friends  can  give  you  a  message,  that 
you  would  not  long  cavil,  but  make  intelligible  the  words,  "  I 
am  not  dead  but  still  living,"  since  that  message  would  carry 
away  all  thought  of  the  trivial  manner  in  which  it  comes. 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you,  either  theological  or  cultivated 
; esthetic  friend,  that  the  method  employed  is  not  a  com- 
pliment to  you  ?  That  it  is  not  the  spirit  that  is  degraded,  but 
that  it  is  an  indication  of  the  materiality  of  the  present  age  ? 
And  that  because  you  will  not  listen  to  the  voice  which  might 
come  to  your  own  spirit,  saying,  "I  am  not  dead  but  living," 
your  friends  are  obliged  to  knock  first  on  the  outer  door  to 
gain  admittance,  possibly,  to  the  door  of  your  intelligence? 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  this  physical  phenomena 
that  you  consider  trivial  and  trifling,  is  an  indication  of  a  subtle 
power  over  material  law  that  will  eventually  revolutionize  the 
whole  intelligence  of  man  ?  And  if  true  that  sounds  are  pro- 
duced independently  of  the  usual  known  laws  of  nature,  does 
it  not  indicate  a  realm  in  which  you  will  one  day  be  glad  to 
enter  and  take  your  seat  by  the  side  of  the  savans  of  science, 
conscious  that  there  are  more  forces  in  the  universe  than  you 
have  ever  dreamed  of  ? 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  having  mediums  at  all,  I  will 
say,  in  the  first  place,  that  you  are  yourselves,  physically,  but 
mediums.  Your  spirit  employs  your  body  for  manifesting  to 
others,  and  the  physical  senses  are  but  the  mediums  of  com- 
munication between  one  spirit  and  another  on  the  earth.  If 
this  be  true  of  your  own  material  bodies,  and  you  still  in  daily 

0*6) 


110 

contact  with  one  another,  must  it  not  also  be  true  that  the  dis- 
embodied spirit,  wishing  to  reach  you  through  the  ordinary 
channels  of  intelligence,  must  necessarily  employ  such  meth- 
ods and  forces  as  will  best  appeal  to  your  intelligence  ? 

If,  therefore,  you  refuse  to  accept  .the  gift  of  the  spirit ;  if 
you  refuse  to  accept  the  inspiration  that  comes  from  within  ; 
if  the  voice  of  intuition  has  been  closed  either  by  blind  fear 
and  prejudice  or  by  over-culture  of  the  intellect ;  if  there  is  no 
other  avenue  by  which  humanity  can  be  reached  than  the  very 
avenue  which  appeals  to  the  senses,  the  intelligence  and  the 
intuition  must  be  approached  from  the  external  side.  And  as 
I  said  before,  uncomplimentary  as  it  is  to  the  spirtiual  condi- 
tion of  this  enlightened  age,  it  is,  notwithstanding,  a  fact  in 
physical  science  which  is  of  importance  to  commemorate,  and 
may  be  the  stepping-stone  to  that  vast  inner  realm  with  which 
you  are  yet  unfamiliar  and  which  girds  you  round  about  with 
its  wonderful  powers. 

There  are  many  who  say  :  "  Why  may  I  not  be  a  medi- 
um ?  Why  must  I  always  receive  my  message  through 
another  ?" 

You  know  not  what   you  say.     You  receive  most  of  your 
intelligence,    most  of   your  teaching,    most   of   your   mental 
growth,  most  of  your  training,  your  knowledge  of  music,  of 
mathematics,   of   art,   of   religion,  of  poesy    and  of  .history, 
through  other  people  ;  and  you  do  not  hesitate  to  study  the 
works  of  the  man  of  science,  of   the  astronomer,  though  you 
know  nothing  of   astronomy  ;    of  the  geologist,  though  you 
have  no  knowledge  of  geology  ;  and  yet  when  there  comes  to 
you  a  message  through  another  from  a  departed  friend,  which 
gives  indication  of  other  intelligence,  other  growth,  other  cul- 
ture, and  that  fact  is  demonstrated,  you  still  cavil,  and  say, 
"  Why  can  it  not  come  to  me?"     For  the  very  reason  that  you 
say  "  Why  ?"     There  are  those  of  your  class  of   mind,  who, 
when   medium  ship  comes  to  them,   either  in  writing  or  any 
other  phase,   say,   "Oh,   this  is  only  my  imagination."     My 
dear  friend,  that  which  comes  to  you  through  another  person 
cannot  be  your  imagination.     And  if  it  gives  you  intelligence 
which  that   person  through  whom  it  comes   did   not   know 
beforehand,   it  cannot  be  your   imagination.     Therefore   the 


11 1 

theory  of  imagination  is  cut  short  at  once.  It  is  to  just  such 
persons  as  you  are  that  this  reason  applies.  You  are  not  a  medi- 
um, because  you  are  not  satisfied  with  anything. 

Then  mediumship  comes  only  to  those  who  are  satisfied? 
By  no  means  ;  it  conies  frequently  to  those  who  are  dissatisfied 
just  to  prove  that  it  did  not  come  because  they  wanted  it;  just 
to  show  that  their  wish  and  desire  did  not  make  it.  It  comes 
frequently  in  direct  violation  of  their  individual  wisli  and  will, 
to  prove  it  is  governed  by  a  law  superior  to  their  own  will. 

Then  you  say,  "  Only  those  who  oppose  it  can  be  medi- 
ums '?"  Not  so.  Frequently  it  comes  to  those  who  are  neither 
in  opposition  nor  have  any  active  desire  for  it ;  who  have  no 
knowledge  of  mediumship  ;  who  do  not  know  before  it  conies 
what  it  means,  but  who  are  made  receptive  to  it,  perhaps  for 
that  very  reason,  to  illustrate  that  it  is  not  desire  nor  objection 
that  produces  mediumship. 

The  truth  is,  as  stated,  it  comes  to  no  individual  class  ; 
there  is  nothing  in  the  individual  condition  that  creates  it,  but 
it  chooses  (that  is,  spirits  do,)  those  whom  they  will  use.  Per- 
haps you  have  noticed  that  when  Neilson,  Jenny  Lind,  or 
some  great  song-bird  from  over  the  ocean  came,  it  set  all  infe- 
rior birds  to  warbling,  and  many  aspirants  for  fame  would 
spring  up  in  the  groves  of  your  own  native  land  ;  and  gradu- 
ally, as  the  wave  passed,  the  music  would  die  away,  leaving  one, 
or  two,  or  three  who  were  fitting  followers. 

Spiritualism  poured  itself  out  upon  the  world  thirty-five 
years  ago,  and  there  were  mediums  everywhere;  there  were 
rapping,  writing  and  seeing  mediums.  The  wave  subsided  ; 
a  test  had  been  applied;  the  shower  had  fallen,  and  here  and 
there  one  was  chosen  to  carry  forward  the  work.  The  song- 
birds had  sung  their  little  song,  and  the  wave  of  spiritual 
truth  had  come.  "  Many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen  "  applies 
to  mediumship  as  well  as  to  any  other  work  in  the  world. 
The  qualifications,  however,  for  being  chosen  are  not  within 
the  individual  will  of  the  one  chosen. 

Now,  every  little  while  you  will  hear  of  some  new  phase  of 
mediumship,  notably  that  of  materialization.  The  clairvoy- 
ant wishes  to  leave  her  seeing;  the  rapping  medium  wishes  to 
leave   her   table;    the   healiii"-   medium   wishes   to   leave    his 


112 

patients — all  wish  to  leave  their  avocations  and  chosen  calling 
to  become  materializing-  mediums.  Why  ?  There  is  a  sensa- 
tion in  human  minds  to  be  something  else  ;  to  be  that  which 
others  are  ;  that  which  will  attract  the  most  attention,  and 
especially,  to  be  something  different  from  what  they  are. 

Christ  enjoined  the  seeking  of  that  which  was  highest  and 
best.  Paul  enumerates  gifts  of  every  kind,  and  shows  that 
each  cannot  possess  all  gifts.  Now,  the  fact  is  that  those  who 
have  spiritual  gifts  cannot  prize  them  too  highly  ;  cannot,  if 
they  understand  the  great  moral  meaning  of  the  message  that 
is  given  to  them,  be  too  careful  in  keeping  themselves  in 
suitable  condition  for  the  exercise  of  these  gifts.  What  I 
mean  by  a  suitable  condition  is  not  handcuffs,  ropes,  barriers, 
prison  laws  against  mediumship  or  against  healing  ;  but  a 
condition  clear  as  the  sky,  as  transparent  as  the  atmosphere  ; 
to  have  no  wish  or  will  that  will  cloud  the  direct  channel 
between  you  and  the  spiritual  world.  I  say,  whatever  message 
the  spirit  world  wishes  to  give,  if  you  are  a  medium,  you 
have  no  right  to  decide  what  that  message  shall  be,  any  more 
than  the  faithful  telegraph  operator  has  a  right  to  decide 
whether  a  clergyman  or  a  bandit  shall  send  a  message  over 
the  wires.  It  is  best  to  keep  the  wires  open  and  clear,  and 
all  you  can  do  for  mediumship  in  this  world  is  to  keep  the 
channel  of  communication  free. 

If  the  highway  robber  is  dead  and  wants  to  send  a  mes- 
sage  to  earth  as  to  his  condition  in  spirit  life,  you  have  no 
right  to  den}'  him.  If  a  saint,  on  the  other  hand,  wishes  to 
send  a  message,  you  have  no  right  to  demand  that  that  saint 
shall  be  the  only  one  to  communicate.  Lessons  are  learned  by 
contrast  as  often  as  by  direct  teaching;  and  he  who  can  tell 
you  of  his  condition  in  the  spirit  world  as  the  result  of  his 
shadow-life  upon  the  earth,  may  give  you  a  better  warning 
than  he  who  comes  to  you  with  radiant  language  and  pictures 
of  immortal  glory. 

There  are  too  many  who  are  prone  to  desire  to  regulate 
mediumship;  to  turn  on  the  light  here  and  shut  it  off  there;  to 
declare  in  what  condition  it  shall  come  and  under  what  it 
shall  not  come.  Begging  pardon,  and  giving  you  all  credit  for 
good  intentions,  keep  your  hands  away  from  the  valves;  keep 


1  I:; 

your  minds  as  free  as  possible  and  let  the  spirit  world  manage 
their  own  mediums.  This  organist  does  not  want  you  to  help 
him  play  the  organ;  if  you  can  sing,  you  are  welcome  to  do 
it.  But  if  each  one  of  you  should  say,  "  Turn  this  stop;  put 
on  that  pedal,"  your  organist  would  certainly  object.  So  we 
from  the  spirit  world  understand  and  know  best  how  to  man- 
age our  instruments,  and  we  say  "  hands  off;"  keep  your  minds 
free  and  pure  to  receive  whatever  good  may  come,  hut 
do  not  try  to  regulate  the  instruments.  If  they  are  value- 
less, we  shall  find  it  out  for  ourselves;  and  fortunately  you 
are  not  compelled  either  to  witness  anything  that  you  do  not 
approve  of,  nor  to  listen  to  anything  that  you  do  not  like; 
and  there  are  no  laws  in  this  or  any  other  land  to  compel  you 
to  seek  mediums  whom  you  distrust,  and  witness  manifesta- 
tions that  are  not  satisfactory.  But  if  you  attempt  to  regu- 
late the  manifestations,  like  him  who  tampers  with  the  clock, 
setting  it  at  different  hours  to  suit  himself  and  his  conscience, 
you  will  have  no  correct  report  from  the  other  world  at  all. 

We  know  of  several  who  have  mediums  of  their  own  ;  who 
have  them  thoroughly  regulated  and  developed  to  suit  them- 
selves. No  messages  come  through  those  mediums  not 
approved  by  the  censor  of  the  circle,  and  the  result  is  very  lit- 
tle intelligence  from  the  other  world.  We  know  of  those  who 
think  that  there  is  nothing  satisfactory  excepting  handcuffs 
and  thumbscrews.  This  kind  of  intelligence  certainly  would 
have  appealed  to  the  middle  ages.  We  are  accustomed  to 
upbraid  those  in  the  Church  who  apply  the  car  of  Juggernaut, 
and  who  believe  in  the  method  of  extorting  a  confession  by  the 
application  of  such  forces,  for  it  is  below  the  understanding 
of  the  present  day. 

Any  man  who  is  not  qualified  to  trust  his  intelligence, 
and  to  know  whether  a  message  is  genuine  or  no,  cannot  cer- 
tainly be  any  better  satisfied  by  such  methods  and  appliances. 
From  the  seance  room  we  should  have  nothing  that  will 
remind  us  of  the  persecutions  of  former  days.  In  the  inqui- 
ries of  the  seance  room,  the  men  of  science  who  claim  to  i  aves- 
tigate  should  not  desire  to  emulate  our  Puritan  fathers,  whom 
they  accuse  of  great  bigotry  in  religion.  Let  us  have  intelli- 
gence as  the  source  of  inquiry  ;  let  us  tunc  careful  and  calm 
(27) 


114 

judgment  ;  observe,  watch,  witness  what  is  produced,  but  do 
not  attempt  to  control  the  manifestations.  If  you  have  a 
chronometer  you  do  not  put  it  under  a  sledge-hammer  to  test 
its  power  for  keeping  time.  Let  those  who  are  instruments 
between  you  and  the  spiritual  realm  be  not  only  sheltered 
from  violent  passions,  suspicion,  and  such  acrid  elements  as 
frequently  enter,  but  let  the  law  of  sympathy  and  love  so  sur- 
round them  that  the  message  that  comes  to  you  shall  be  the 
direct  and  distinct  word  of  the  spiritual  wurld. 

That  you  cannot  control  it  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
for  thirty-five  years  Church,  clergy,  scientific  men,  men  of 
business,  and  the  whole  world  have  tried  to  drive  it  out  of 
existence;  first  by  ridicule  and  scorning,  by  unbelief,  by  denial, 
and  by  claiming  it  to  be  the  work  of  his  Satanic  Majesty;  next 
by  electricity,  but  every  form  of  explanation  proving  inad- 
equate. 

Now,  steadily  increasing,  there  is  scarcely  a  household  that 
has  not  its  medium  ;  some  loved  and  revered  member  through 
whom  the  messages  come,  breathing  words  of  affection  from 
the  world  of  spirits.  Would  you  admit  any  one  to  rudely 
tear  away  that  light  and  strength  ?  It  is  no  act  of  bravery  to 
cut  down  telegraph  wires  and  destroy  the  communication 
with  another  city.  It  is  no  act  of  intelligence  to  tear  up  a 
railroad  track  and  wreck  a  train.  Yet  many  consider  that  they 
have  accomplished  a  wonderful  act  in  breaking  up  a  spiritual 
seance.  Surely  it  proves  nothing  except  the  vileness  and  igno- 
rance of  him  who  does  it. 

The  intelligence  of  the  world  moves  in  response  to  that 
which  appeals  to  its  intelligence  ;  and  if  mediumship  means 
anything,  it  means  that  which,  independently  of  your  will, 
independently  of  your  wish  if  need  be,  shall  demonstrate  the 
presence  of  disembodied  spirits  in  your  midst,  and  when  that 
evidence  comes  to  you  the  continual  teaching  from  spiritual 
life  shall  bring  you  intelligence  of  that  which  lies  beyond. 

Destroy  the  fountain  from  whence  a  city  receives  its  sup- 
ply of  water  ;  destroy  the  light  which  guides  its  citizens  in 
the  night-time,  and  it  is  the  act  of  a  traitor  and  coward  ;  and 
there  is  no  other  name  to  apply  to  one  who,  if  he  could,  would 
turn  out  the  lights  from  the  upper  realm  that  are  guiding 


1  15 

mankind  through  the  Valley  and  Shadow  of  Death  ;  no  other 
name  to  one  who  seeks  to  blot  out  the  fair  and  sacred  message 
that  is  now  being  traced  upon  the  walls  of  your  dwellings, 
and  now  being  gathered  to  millions  of  hearts. 

O  treasure  your  spiritual  gifts  !  Hold  them  as  you  would 
a  sacred  lily  in  your  hands  ;  let  your  lives  be  guided  and 
guarded  by  them  ;  let  the  light  that  cometh  from  within  be  as 
a  charmed  cup  in  which  the  nepenthe  of  life  is  held,  that  all 
may  drink  who  will  apply  it  to  their  lips,  and  none  shall  be 
thirsty  who  will  come  to  the  fountain  of  the  spirit. 


llfi 


The  Gift  of  Healing. 

By  Dr.  Benjamin  Bush. 


' '  To  another  is  given  the  gift  of  healing  by  the  same 
spirit.  " 

If  your  present  speaker — the  one  who  controls  this  morn- 
ing— is  not  endowed  with  the  same  gift  of  eloquence  of  some 
who  address  you,  you  will  at  least  give  him  the  credit  of 
sincere  study  in  the  department  of  healing ;  and  from  experi- 
ence of  more  than  one  century  in  both  worlds,  somewhat  of 
knowledge  concerning  it. 

Unquestionably  the  science  of  materia  medico,  has  failed 
to  develop  in  proportion  to  human  thought ;  for  since  the 
days  of  Esculapius  undoubtedly  the  theories  of  medicine  have 
changed  but  slowly,  and  step  by  step  such  portions  of  human 
science  as  have  been  incorporated  into  medicine  have  come  by 
force,  and  not  by  the  enlightment  of  the  schools  of  medicine. 

In  Therapeutics  there  is  undoubtedly  an  improvement  ; 
but  it  is  more  the  result  of  that  which  has  come,  not  in  the 
regular  schools  of  practice,  but  through  what  is  termed 
"  quackery  "  in  the  old.  The  "  quack  "  is  undoubtedly  the 
prophet  in  the  world  of  medicine.  "Without  him  there  never 
would  be  any  progress;  and  still  the  schools  of  regular  practice 
are  so  far  behind  the  actual  state  of  healing  in  the  world,  that 
more  than  three-fourths  of  mankind  entirely  distrust  the 
regular  practitioner: 

From  a  severe  and  strict  adhesion  to  the  most  orthodox 
rules  of  the  Allopathic  school,  unto  the  gift  of  divine  healing 
your  present  speaker  has  been  converted.  When  on  earth  it 
was  the  severest  ritualism  in  materia  medica ;  now  it  is  the 
announcement  that  there  can  be  but  one  future  school  of 
healing  ;  namely,  that  of  the  spirit.  Spiritual  healing  is  to 
take  the  place  of  all  else.  As  nature  provides  a  panacea  for 
every  ill,  and  as  in  proportion  as  the  ills  of  mankind  are  purely 
physical,  there  will  be  physical  remedies  ;  as  they  are  spirit- 
ual, instead  of  physical  there  Avill  be  spiritual  remedies. 

The  schools  of   practice,   however,   differ    so  essentially 


117 

that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  discuss  their  propositions  except  to 
discover  that  in  not  less  than  a  century  of  time  that  which  was 
most  poisonous  has  become  healing;  that  which  was  injurious 
has  become  acceptable,  and  the  reverse.  He  who  attempts  to 
regulate  his  own  organism  or  habits  to  the  schools  of  medicine 
would  be  obliged  to  take  one  day  that  which  medical  men 
declared  was  poisonous,  and  at  another  time  to  reject  it  alto- 
gether. 

From  long  experience  I  have  discovered  that  most  of  the  ills 
in  human  life,  physically,  are  traceable  to  the  mental  or  spir- 
itual condition  of  the  individual.  Perhaps  some  of  you  may 
have  heard  of  the  spread  of  the  cholera  in  Philadelphia  nearly 
a  century  ago,  when  it  was  distinctly  discovered  bj'  your 
speaker  that  the  minds  of  the  people  had  more  to  do  with  the 
spread  of  the  epidemic  than  the  physical  contiguity  of  the 
germs  of  the  disorder  itself;  that  if  you  remove  the  fear  of  con- 
tagion either  by  isolation,  separation,  restoring  confidence  or 
by  removing  people  from  psychological  contact,  that  that  one 
malady  can  be  stayed  almost  instantly. 

I  had  no  knowledge  of  this  psychological  power,  as  such, 
by  name,  but  discovered  that  the  fear  in  the  mind  of  the  indi- 
vidual had  largely  to  do  with  the  taking  on  of  the  disease. 

Cholera  is  a  negative  disease  ;  and  while  there  are  germs, 
undoubtedly,  that  are  communicated  from  system  to  system, 
or  in  food,  or  in  atmosphere,  cholera  is  not  a  contagious 
disease  in  the  sense  that  small-pox  is,  and  other  diseases  that 
are  communicated  by  animalcule.  If  the  cholera  germs  are 
in  the  water  or  in  the  food,  or  anything  you  partake  of  in  com- 
mon with  others,  vou  will  doubtless  absorb  those  germs,  but 
the  physical  contact  of  one  person  with  another,  indepen- 
dently of  the  psychological  power,  will  not  cause  the  disease 
to  be  communicated;  but  neverless  it  is  true  that  it  spreads 
more  rapidly  than  almost  any  other  disease. 

The  biblical  healing  which  I  have  quoted  here  as  belong- 
ing to  one  of  the  spiritual  gifts,  has  always  been  supposed  to  be 
entirely  separate  from  the  science  of  medicine  ;  and  so  it  is, 
since  science  gropes  in  the  dark  for  causes  which  she  can  only 
discover  by  probing  blindly  the  effects  in  the  human  system. 
Now  we  are  perfectly  well  aware  that  the  same  disease  rarely 
(28) 


118 

produces  the  same  effects  in  two  different  persons  of  different 
temperament,  and  that  entirely  dissimilar  diseases  may  pro- 
duce similar  symptoms,  and  therefore  that  these  symptoms  are 
not  even  clues  to  the  sources  of  disease  in  man. 

On  the  other  hand,  spiritual  or  psychological  healing 
arrives  at  the  source  of  the  difficulty  without  questioning-  the 
symptoms — ffnds  at  once  the  causes  instead  of  the  effects  of 
disease.  The  difference  between  the  science  of  medicine  and 
the  perception  or  intuition  of  a  true  healer;  is  the  same  differ- 
ence that  exists  between  the  body  and  the  spirit,  or  between 
a  mere  technical  knowledge  and  that  very  soul  or  essence  of 
knowledge  in  the  world.  Therefore,  while  I  cannot  decry  any 
anatomical  or  physiological  knowledge  that  will  bring  man- 
kind to  the  facts  concerning  their  physical  structure,  I  still 
believe  until  the  psychological  department  of  man  is  included 
in  the  science  of  medicine  there  can  be  but  little  successful 
general  healing. 

I  doubt  not  that  if  the  physicians  of  the  earth  were  at 
this  instant  entirely  removed,  and  mankind  left  to  the  laws 
of  nature  or  their  own  devices,  that  their  would  in  ten  years 
be  observably  less  disease  than  at  the  present  time.  I  doubt 
not  that  the  mistakes  of  medicine  have  many  times  caused 
more  disease  than  the  absence  of  medicine  would  have  pro- 
duced ;  and  I  say  this  not  from  prejudice  but  from  long  and 
careful  study. 

The  remedies  that  hundreds  intend  as  specifics  can  only 
be  applied  by  one  having  certain  knowledge  concerning  a 
disease,  and  concerning  the  nature  or  temperament  to  whom 
the  remedy  is  to  be  applied.  It  is  foil}'  to  treat  an  infant  as 
you  would  a  grown  up  man,  or  one  of  very  delicate  tempera- 
meilt,  as  you  would  treat  an  organism  made  of  iron  and  steel. 
It  is  folly  to  have  a  regime  that  will  at  once  subject  the  nervous 
woman  and  the  strong  physical  man  to  the  same  order  of 
treatment ;  and  only  the  careful  physican,  who  after  years  of 
practice  rejects  nearly  all  of  his  violent  remedies,  can  be  said 
to  be  the  consistent  and  careful  healer.  The  young  student, 
the  fresh  graduate,  is  anxious  to  apply  all  the  therapeiitics 
and  the  principles  of  them  that  he  finds  in  the  treatises  on 
materia    medica.     Not  so  with  the   experienced  physician  ;  a 


I  I!) 

few  remedies  carefully  applied,  and  above  all,  a  watchful  and 
parental  care  over  his  patients.  Those  who  have  prac- 
ticed for   twenty    or   thirty   or  forty    years  carry   very  little 

medicine,  and  convey  less  to  the  systems  of  their  patiei 
while  they  give  careful  advice,  search  out  the   main   malady 
that  may  be  the  cause  of  the  disease,  and  in  that  way  probably 
cure  more  than  medicine  has  ever  dreamed  of. 

From  long  experience  I  discovered  that  the  remedies  I 
prepared  myself,  and  conveyed  personally  to  the  patients, 
invariably  produced  beneficial  results,  while  the  remedies 
entrusted  to  others  and  conveyed  by  another  hand  frequently 
failed.  This  led  to  observation  as  to  the  psychological  influ- 
ence of  personal  presence  ;  and  the  true  physician  or  true 
healer,  if  he  occupy  the  position  that  society  entrusts  to  him, 
should  also  be  the  adviser,  the  counselor,  the  friend.  1  make 
no  doubt  that  the  time  will  come  when  the  spiritual  teacher 
will  also  be  the  healer,  since  spirit  and  body  will  no  longer  be 
separated  ;  and  since,  as  in  the  olden  time  when  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  performed  the  miracles,  as  they  were  termed,  of 
healing,  it  was  the  result  of  the  spirit  and  body  combined  in 
the  art  of  healing. 

Separated  as  the  science  of  medicine  is  at  the  present  day 
from  all  that  pertains  to  man's  spiritual  nature,  and  so  stead- 
ily have  the  schools  of  medicine  drifted  toward  materialism, 
that  it  would  shock  not  only  the  sensitive  nature,  not  only  the 
religionist,  but  any  candid  and  careful  mind  to  witness  the 
skepticism  that  belongs  to  the  different  schools  of  materia 
medico,  more  especially  in  the  clinical  department  and  the 
dissecting  room,  and  where  there  is  free  access  to  the  physical 
body  of  man.  That  science  cannot  discover  the  source  of 
man's  mentality  when  the  body  is  dead,  and  cannot  trace  the 
spirit  when  the  spirit  is  no  longer  there,  is  to  them  the  deplor- 
able kind  of  evidence  (that  such  minds  invariably  seek)  that 
man  has  no  spirit.  As  though  when  the  bod\  is  no  longer 
required  the  spirit  would  linger  for  the  dissecting  knife  or  the 
jest  to  reach  ;  as  though  the  failure  to  discover  '.hat  which, 
like  the  incense  of  the  flower,  flies  away  since  the  blossom  is 
no  longer  there,  proves  man  to  have  no  spirit  whatever. 

If  such  is  the    kind  of  reasoning,    how   illy   fitted  is  the 


120 

graduate  of  such  a  school  to  heal  the  bodies  of  living  men  and 
women.  It  is  not  the  external  that  the  Great  Healer  is  striv- 
ing to  reach,  and  that  the  real  science  of  medicine  wishes  to 
touch,  but  the  well-springs  of  life  that  have  their  secret  sources 
far  within  the  realm  of  the  spirit.  The  nerve  that  vitalizes  the 
hand  may  be  paralyzed  by  sorrow,  doubt  or  fear,  that  no  rem- 
edy of  materia  medica  can  reach. 

I  charge  you,  therefore,  if  you  consider  this  discourse  less 
scientific  than  spiritual,  that  you  will  remember  that  the  access 
which  the  speaker  has  to  the  spiritual  sources  of  suffering  is 
the  cause  of  his  turning  from  the  more  external  department  of 
human  science  to  the  broader  and  grander  realm  of  spiritual 
healing.  As  the  pure  air  of  heaven,  the  bright  sunshine  and 
the  health-giving  waters  contain  the  essential  elements  of  vital- 
ity to  man's  frame  ;  as  the  food  that  he  partakes  of  must  be 
appropriated  by  him  according  to  his  need  for  sustaining  the 
body,  so  unless  the  body  be  in  the  right  condition,  made  so 
by  the  mind  and  spirit  to  receive  food,  no  healing  or  nourish- 
ing power  can  be  imparted. 

To  illustrate  this  :  I  have  known  a  person  in  deep  grief 
to  be  unable  to  partake  of  any  food,  and  if  food  is  partaken  of 
there  is  no  assimilation  of  it  in  the  human  system.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  useless  to  force  food  into  the  system 
that  naturally  rejects  it.  The  reason  of  this  lack  of  assimila- 
tion is,  that  all  the  forces  of  the  body,  even  the  gastric  juices, 
are  turned  to  bitterness  by  the  presence  of  grief,  and  you  might 
as  well  go  down  upon  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore  and  attempt 
to  force  the  tide  backward  Avhen  it  is  going  out,  as  to  force  the 
system  in  this  ebb-tide  of  sorrow  to  receive  food  or  medicine  ; 
nor  can  any  stimulus  applied  to  the  body  affect  the  source  of 
the  difficulty. 

What,  then,  is  the  physician  to  do  ?  Give  an  opiate,  an 
anaesthetic,  a  tonic  ?  By  no  means  ;  that  only  produces  a 
correspondingly  lower  ebb-tide  ;  and  the  great  development  of 
nervous  diseases  in  the  nineteenth  century  is  owing  to  this 
mistake  of  physicians  trying  to  reach  an  immediate  result 
regardless  of  the  eventual  condition  of  the  patient.  AH  effects 
of  stimulants,  whether  in  the  bromides  or  chlorals  or  anv 
other  compounds  stated  to  be  harmless  remedies,  must  be 
intended  for  a  superficial  result  merely. 


121 

Now,  the  true  source  of  healing-  is  to  reach  the  mind  of 
the  individual;  and  I  claim  that  no  one  has  the  riglrl  to  call  him- 
self a  physician  unless  he  is  able  to  do  this.  If  he  can  find 
gut  the  source  of  the  sorrow,  apply  the  healing  balm  to  the 
spirit,  the  body  will  respond  and  clamor  for  food,  cry  out  for 
nourishment,  and  ask  for  strength.  But  to  attempt  to  force 
that  which  the  spirit  does  not  claim  or  require  is  simply  a 
barrier  instead  of  a  life-giving  and  health-giving  agent. 

I  charge  the  present  school  of  medical  science  with  devel- 
oping in  the  recent  generation  that  love  of  stimulants,  thai 
claim  upon  and  necessity  for  stimulants,  which  is  so  prevalent 
in  the  world. 

I  charge  all  who  administer  anaesthetics,  (even  though 
they  are  called  harmless,)  excepting  in  extreme  cases  of  surgi- 
cal operation,  with  tampering  with  the  tide  of  human  health- 
f nlness;  and  the  more  that  an  immediate  remedial  effect  is 
claimed,  the  more  I  charge  them  with  trifling  with  the  human 
system.  Chloral,  all  kinds  of  bromides  and  especially  those 
baleful  hypodermic  applications  of  morphine  are  the  bane  of 
the  present  system  of  materia  medica.  Under  these  practices 
women  are  rendered  nervous  and  helpless  or  dependent  upon 
these  "  slight"  stimulants,  as  they  are  called.  Under  these 
practices  the  whole  of  the  human  family  is  subject  to  a  system 
of  treatment  which,  if  not  submitted  to,  is  at  once  brought 
before  the  courts  of  justice,  and  if  the  conscience  of  the  indi- 
vidual will  not  allow  this  school  of  medicine  to  be  applied  to 
them,  it  is  pronounced  unlawful.  Man  has  not  the  right  to  die 
according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience.  The  schools 
of  medicine  and  the  laws  of  some  of  the  States  forbid  this;  lie 
must  die  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Schools  of  Physicians.  I 
claim  that  every  step  that  has  been  taken  outside  of  the  ancient 
regime  of  the  allopathic  school  is  a  step  of  human  redemption. 
I  claim  that  the  homeopathic  system,  which  in  its  application 
is  not  only  less  rigorous  but  more  true  to  nature,  is  a  step  in 
the  right  direction  ;  that  hydropathy  and  its  various  applica- 
tions, though  sometimes  exceedingly  heroic  and  sometimes 
very  severe,  still  is  a  step  also  in  the  right  direction.  I  claim 
that  the  dietary  methods  which  have  been  variously  adopted, 
although  many  times  they  may  appear,  perhaps,  to  be  trifling 
(29) 


122 

with  the  human  system,  are  less  dangerous  than  the  direct 
application  of  mineral  poisons;  nay,  are  helpful.  I  claim  still 
farther  that  the  less  you  have  of  extraneous  substances  in  the 
shape  of  medicine  or  food  introduced  into  the  system,  except 
when  the  system  requires  the  latter,  the  more  health-giving 
and  vitalizing  will  you  find  the  healing  process  of  nature. 
Pure  air,  fresh  water,  and  a  response  to  the  actual  demands 
of  the  patient,  however 'seemingly  preposterous  they  may  he, 
is  the  only  correct  system  of  healing.  I  mean  by  this  that 
under  the  ancient  regime  the  fever  of  a  patient  was  to  be 
quelled  by  medicines,  usually  mineral  poisons  such  as  mercury, 
and  the  system  reduced  by  violent  cathartics  and  by  the  actual 
absence  of  fresh  air,  pure  water,  or  anything  that  the  patient 
craved.  In  other  words,  if  you  are  sick  with  a  fever  you  must 
be  punished  with  added  fever,  like  some  of  the  moral  systems 
prevalent  in  the  world  for  treating  moral  disorders.  Of  course 
I  do  not  think,  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term,  that  it  would 
be  any  more  unreasonable  to  hang  a  man  for  having  the  small- 
pox than  for  being  a  murderer;  but  it  would  seem  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  suppose  that  one  who  is  sick  needs  heal- 
ing, and  the  usual  method  of  treatment  would  certainly  be  a 
scourging  instead  of  a  healing  process. 

I  contend  that  the  true  physician  watches  the  patient, 
studies  his  symptoms,  and  even  in  cases  of  malarial  and 
epidemic  diseases  he  does  not  yield  ever  to  the  pressure  and 
clamor  of  the  popular  alarm,  nor  yield  his  own  conscience  for 
the  sake  of  soothing  the  fears  of  others. 

Every  individual  must  be  treated  according  to  his  or  her 
peculiar  temperament ;  and  I  believe  also — and  this  from  long 
study  in  the  application  of  the  art  of  healing — that  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  overcoming  the  spread  of  epidemics  ;  and  I  think 
the  larger  proportion  is  the  contagion  of  fear — that  baleful 
mental  poison  that  theologically  has  well-nigh  stranded  the 
world,  and  also  has  stranded  men  physically.  Through  fear  of 
death  men  become  cowards,  and  through  fear  of  disease  they 
lose  their  mental  balance  and  every  force  of  the  system  is 
turned  into  a  negative  state.  The  calm  and  healthful  will,  the 
mind  that  is  unafraid  and  not  affected  with  fear  is  a  very  essen- 
tial requisite  in  resisting  disease.     When  it  was  claimed  in  the 


123 

olden  time  that  one  would  enter  afiery  furnace  and  nol  be  con- 
sumed by  the  flame,  it  was  one  instanceof  extreme  application 
of  spiritual  over  physical  force,  showing  what  the  mind  might 
accomplish  by  resisting-  disease.  He  \\  ho  is  a  skillful  physician 
and  intent  upon  his  errand,  rarely  contracts  a  poisonous  dis- 
ease ;  contagion  cannot  reach  him  ;  he  is  too  fearless,  too  strong 
in  his  prevailing  and  overpowering  influence.  The  same  ele- 
ment applied  to  you  would  ward  off  not  only  the  general  dis- 
eases, but  the  actual  malaria  and  the  contagion  that  is  in  the 
atmosphere.  I  consider  that  the  spread  of  diseases,  like 
diphtheria  and  others  accredited  of  an  animalcuhe  or  malarial 
nature,  are  often  the  result  of  fear  and  a  negative  condition  in 
the  individual  system  that  renders  that  person  susceptible  to 
the  disease  ;  a  sympathetic  or  psychological  power  which  will 
attract  that  which  you  fear.  Usually,  if  you  have  noticed,  in 
a  great  fatality  a  man  generally  dies  by  that  disease  which  he 
most  fears.  The  enemy  is  waiting  for  him  ;  he  is  a  fit  subject. 
If  the  fear  is  in  his  mind  it  can  attack  him.  As  a  strong  mag- 
netic eye  can  conquer  the  infuriated  beast  until  it  will  lie  fawn- 
ing at  your  feet,  while  the  fearful  man  who  flies  will  be  followed 
by  the  enraged  animal,  so  disease  is  lurking  for  him  who  fears 
it.  But  he  who  has  a  strong  will  and  is  fearless  against  it, 
there  can  be  no  contagion  for  him.  He  can  walk  as  one  fully 
armed  and  clad  in  armor  in  the  midst  of  the  most  deadly 
disease  if  the  mind  and  body  be  right. 

Every  human  system  has  a  double  set  of  nerves,  and  not 
only  the  nerves  but  every  atom  of  the  physical  body  is  either 
polarized  towards  disease  with  a  positive  strength,  or  if  it  is 
negative,  I  call  it  depolarized.  The  physical  system  must  be 
all  the  time  exactly  polarized  with  reference  to  the  laws  of 
health — to  the  light,  to  the  atmosphere,  to  the  magnetic  forces 
of  the  system,  and  ready  to  respond  at  an  instant's  warning 
to  the  will-power  of  the  individual. 

If  your  foot  refuses  to  walk,  you  know  that  there  is  a  dis- 
order in  the  nerves  or  muscular  system  ;  if  your  hand  refuses 
to  do  your  bidding,  you  may  know  that  it  is  depolarized  in 
some  direction  ;  but  instantly  the  will-power  assumes  its  sway, 
■or  the  vitalizing  forces  are  set  in  their  proper  places,  the  body 
responds  to  its  natural  functions  and  obeys  the  will. 


124 

The  source,  therefore,  of  healing-  will  ultimate!}'  be  in  the 
perception  by  the  physician  of  the  sources  of  disease.  This  is 
why  clairvoyants  have  been  so  successful  in  reaching  and  exam- 
ining the  cases  that  have  come  before  them.  They  penetrate 
beyond  the  surface,  and  discover  the  real  causes  of  human 
suffering.  But  frequently  the  application  of  the  remedy  is 
faulty,  because,  while  the  clairvoyant  may  perceive  disease 
correctly,  there  may  be  no  corresponding  power  of  application 
of  medicines  or  magnetism  ;  while  many  persons  who  are  very 
gifted  healers  have  no  clairvoyant  power  at  all,  that  power 
being  reserved  for  the  spirit  that  controls  them,  and  the  medi- 
um or  healer  not  being  aware  of  the  nature  of  the  disease  that 
is  being  treated. 

In  the  sphere  of  spiritual  life  to  which  your  speaker 
belongs — the  sphere  of  healing — -there  is  a  power  and  influ- 
ence that  is  radiated  not  only  to  individual  healers  of  earth, 
but  to  large  numbers  of  persons.  Whenever  a  spirit  enters 
spirit  life  whose  physical  malady  has  been  such  that  the  mind 
has  been  continually  oppressed  by  it,  or  to  more  correctly  state 
it,  when  a  spirit  enters  spiritual  life  whose  body  has  been  a 
victim  to  his  or  her  mental  disorder,  that  spirit  receives  in 
the  sphere  of  healing  the  first  step  towards  recovery  by  being 
disabused  of  the  idea  of  possessing  disease.  There  are  those 
who  are  inclined  to  nurse  their  maladies  if  the  result  will  be 
pitying,  caressing  or  tender  care.  I  don't  wonder,  since  there 
is  not  enough  affection  in  the  world  unless  it  is  called  out  by 
suffering.  But  I  pray  you  apply  your  affection  in  health-giv- 
ing ways.  Do  not  nurse  your  diseases,  for  by  that  means  you 
become  central  objects  of  commiseration,  and  perhaps  of  con- 
demnation to  others.  Let  your  maladies  take  the  shape — not 
of  suffering,  nor  physical  disability,  nor  mental  disorder — but 
of  departure  from  you  ;  and  let  life  and  health  and  strength 
be  your  one  challenge  to  the  admiration  and  love  of  your 
friends.  Do  not  claim  the  affection  because  you  are  weak, 
but  try  to  claim  it  because  you  are  strong.  Do  not  claim  it 
because  you  are  afflicted,  but  try  to  claim  it  because  you  are 
happy  and  joyous. 

But  when  affliction  is  with  you  ;  when  maladies  are  upon 
you  ;  when  suffering  inevitably  comes  to  you,  try  to  overcome 


L25 

instead  of  encouraging  it  ;  try  to  ward  off  and  triumph  over 
it,  instead  of  making  it  welcome  and  pitying  and  brooding 
over  the  difficulty.  I  know  this  sounds  harsh  and  severe,  !>ut 
it  is  not  so  harsh  as  the  surgeon's  knife,  nor  half  so  severe  as 
the  remedies  that  any  physician  will  apply  to  you  if  you  send 
for  him. 

Take  the  word  of  kindness  from  him  who  studies  all  hu- 
man weaknesses  and  sympathizes  with  them  ;  who  understands 
that  there  must  be  sorrow  and  suffering  commensurate  with 
human  ignorance  ;  that  at  last  by  experience  we  shall  learn 
and  triumph  over  pain,  and  that  the  greatest  healer  is  to  be 
found  within   yourselves. 

Your  are  only  allowed  helps,  as  children  in  swaddling 
clothes,  until  you  learn  to  walk  alone,  and  allowed  to  look  to 
others  for  food  and  raiment  until  you  can  sustain  yourselves. 

The  time  will  come  when  at  the  approach  of  the  slightest 
disorder  or  physical  disability  you  will  summon  the  physi- 
cian from  within  yourselves — that  strong,  healthful,  life-giv- 
ing ivill-power  that  shall  conquer  and  redress  the  wrong  that 
is  within  you,  and  heal  the  disease. 

Be  sure  that  you  are  not  left  unaided;  thousands  of 
healers  are  in  the  world  to-day,  and  could  you  see  the  number 
that  the  one  who  addresses  you  at  this  instant  of  time  is 
influencing,  having  control  as  the  telegraphic  operator  does 
the  manifold  wires  at  the  same  instant,  you  would  believe 
what  I  tell  you  when  I  say  that  the  great  healing  power  of  the 
world  of  spirits  is  poured  out  upon  humanity  to-day,  not  only 
to  cure  them  of  their  infirmities  but  to  heal  the  necessity  for 
infirmities  also.  And  could  you  but  perceive  these  many 
bright-winged  messengers,  these  that  hover  around  and  above 
you,  ministering  as  did  the  Healing  Band  of  Angels  of  yore 
through  Jesus  and  his  apostles — that  health  that  he  imparted, 
that  vitalizing  strength  that  was  born  of  the  spirit,  for  he 
was  not  strong  in  muscle,  but  only  in  spirit — you  would 
understand  that  the  healing  power  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
world  to-day,  if  adequately  responded  toby  you,  would  be 
sufficient  to  cure  the  nations  of  every  malady.  But  because  it 
is  not  so  we  must  wait,  and  work,  and  teach,  and  labor 
patiently. 
(30) 


126 

The  time  is  rapidly  approaching  when  instead  of  the 
physician  you  will  summon  the  healer;  after  that,  instead  of 
the  healer  you  will  summon  your  own  guardian  spirit  who,  in 
the  quietude  of  your  room,  will  tell  you  of  the  infirmity  and 
its  remedy,  and  you  yourself  will  be  adequate  to  the  victory. 

But  when  one  is  weak  and  must  be  aided,  it  is  the  mental 
and  spiritual  strength  that  you  most  reqiiire.  I  urge  this 
upon  you,  because  by  actual  experiment  you  can  readily 
discover  how  much  the  mind  has  to  do  with  the  physical  con- 
dition; how  you  can  nurse  your  sorrows  and  brood  over  your 
sufferings  until  they  become  manifold.  I  have  known  whole 
families  to  be  cut  off  by  what  is  termed  consumption,  a  sup- 
posed hereditary  disease,  when  it  was  perpetuated  by  the  strong 
mental  power  of  the  mother  brooding  over  her  offspring,  and 
one  after  another  falling  a  victim  to  the  mental  as  well  as  the 
physical  malady.  I  have  known  of  other  instances,  where 
some  members  of  the  family  were  put  apart  from  the  others 
and  separated  from  the  psychological  influence,  where  the 
disease  did  not  make  its  appearance,  or  if  it  did  it  was  readily 
conquered  by  force  of  will-power. 

There  is  no  disease,  dear  friends,  that  the  haman  body  is 
subject  to  that  is  not  amenable  to  the  healing  power  of  the 
spirit.  There  is  indeed  no  surgical  operation  that  is  not  with- 
in the  province  of  spiritual  power,  either  to  overcome  the 
necessity  for  it,  or  to  perform  the  operation.  But  when  a 
nation  prays  with  its  lips  for  the  restoration  of  a  president's 
life,  and  entrusts  that  life  to  the  probing  process  of  several 
blind  physicians  who  do  not  know,  within  several  inches,  the 
location  of  the  ball,  the  praying  is  not  likely  to  be  efficacious. 

If  you  pray  for  the  gift  of  healing,  ask  for  it  from  the 
xourceot  healing  ;  if  you  trust  to  science,  have  done  with  your 
prayers,  for  it  is  he  who  cuts  and  slashes  the  body  that  you 
trust,  not  the  one  who  heals  it.  If  you  are  to  have  spiritual 
healing,  do  not,  when  your  children  are  sick  or  yourselves,  run 
to  the  first  apothecary  or  chemist,  or  the  first  physician,  but 
trust  to  the  power  that  you  believe  in.  You  cannot  pray  with 
the  spirit  and  at  the  same  time  do  violence  to  that  prayer  with 
your  body.  Two  systems  of  practice  diametrically  opposed  to 
one  another  can  never  heal  the  world. 


127 

I  charge  Spiritualists  with  being  false  to  their  profes- 
sions, when  believing  in  the  gift  of  healing  they  allow  fear  to 
influence  their  feet  and  speed  to  the  nearesl  physician,  while 
the  healer  is  at  their  door.     I  charge  you  with  encouraging  the 

oppressive  laws  that  are  now  in  vogue,  even  in  your  own  Stat.'. 
with  reference  to  the  right  kind  of  healing,  when  yon  employ 
a  physician  in  whom  you  do  not  believe,  merely  through  the 
baleful  influence  of  fear.  Cure  yourself  of  thai  fear,  and  the 
healing  is  in  your  own  palms;  cure  yourself  of  that  depen- 
dence upon  bigots,  and  the  healing  is  by  your  very  side. 
There  is  no  ultimate  panacea  in  any  mineral  remedy  for  any 
organic  disease  in  the  human  body.  Every  particle  of  drug 
coustructecl  of  mineral  is  poisonous  to  the  human  frame.  You 
do  not  eat  clay  ;  you  do  not  swallow  the  dirt  of  the  earth  to 
give  you  nourishment  and  vitality  ;  there  is  no  organic  vitality 
in  any  mineral  remedy.  Vegetable  remedies  may  be  used 
incidentally,  but  even  these  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they 
should  be  applied  under  the  careful  and  vigilant  instruction  of 
the  spiritual  healer. 

But  chiefly,  and  only,  and  ultimately,  there  is  no  greater 
power  of  healing  than  that  contained  in  the  human  band;  and 
the  human  will  that  benignly,  calmly  and  cheerfully  lends  its 
might  to  the  sick-room  is  the  most  life-giving  and  health-giv- 
ing agency  that  humanity  can  possess.  The  mother's  hand 
upon  her  child,  the  wife  that  tenderly  cares  for  her  husband, 
the  skillful  nurse  that  all  the  world  over  must  accompany  the 
best  physician,  is  the  attestation  of  the  truth  of  what  I  say. 
While  the  miracles  wrought  in  every  age,  and  the  gifts  of 
healing  that  have  come  down  even  through  the  baldness  and 
barrenness  of  theology,  prove  to  you  that  the  source  of  healing 
and  strength  must  be  within,  and  that  you  must  turn  to  that 
Well-spring  where  all  life-giving  agencies  abide  before  the 
healer  can  come  unto  you. 

O  search  out  the  crystal  fountain  !  Release  yourself 
from  the  thralldom  of  fear,  and  the  little  child  that  is  by  your 
fireside  can  drive  away  the  racking  pain  by  the  tender  touch 
of  the  delicate  hand.  Oftentimes  have  we  known  the  mosl 
fragile  child  to  be  the  instrument  of  most  wonderful  healing. 
Ere  this  medium  was  twelve  years  of  age  she  was  chosen  from 


128 

among  others  of  her  age  to  heal  the  sick  by  the  laying  on  of 
hands.  No  superficial  knowledge  of  hers  was  required,  no 
external  training.  Even  surgical  operations  of  delicate  kinds 
can  be  prepared  successfully  and  performed  by  those  endowed 
with  the  gift  of   the  spirit. 

Encourage  these  gifts;  do  not  drive  them  from  your  doors 
by  your  superficial  fears  or  your  paltry  adhesion  to  custom. 
Let  the  schools  of  medicine  depart  with  the  ancient  schools 
of  theology  that  bear  them  company.  Let  your  theology  that 
would  swallow  up  in  its  Gehenna  the  souls  of  young  children, 
depart  with  your  system  of  medicine  that  would  also  destroy 
their  bodies.  They  belong  together  there  in  the  Mosaic  dis- 
pensation ;  they  are  ' '  An  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth." 

But  the  true  healer  is  at  your  door,  ushered  in  upon  the 
pinions  of  the  morning,  and  eventually,  in  all  your  lives  you 
will  apply  the  healing  of   the  spirit. 


L29 


The  Gift  of  Prop 


"To  another  is  given    the  gift  of  prophecy  by  the  same 

spirit." 

Unquestionably  among  the  Hebrews  the  word  phrophecj 
was  used  as  well  to  indicate  inspirational  speaking  and  teach- 
ing as  the  foretelling  of  events.  It  is  only  lately  that  the  word 
prophecy  has  been  used  exclusively  with  reference  to  predict- 
ing, foreseeing  or  foreshadowing  the  future.  The  whole  inspi- 
ration of  the  Bible,  or  any  other  indication  of  spirit  power  in 
the  form  of  teaching,  verbal  utterance  or  through  recorded 
word,  would,  under  the  general  term  be  considered  prophecy  . 
the  pouring  out  of  the  spirit  upon  man. 

The  distinct  gift,  however,  of  foretelling  events,  or  of 
knowing  that  which  seems  to  be  veiled  in  the  future,  is  of 
course  a  gift  of  the  spirit ;  it  must  have  its  source  in  the  very 
fountain  of  being. 

Material  existence  is  not  only  unprophetic,  but  it  bears, 
without  the  aid  of  man's  intelligence,  no  records  of  the  past. 
Matter  devoid  of  spirit  is  as  unconscious  of  the  future  and  pasl 
as  it  is  possible  for  the  conception  of  the  mind  to  perceive. 
Matter  lives  alone  in  the  present.  Matter  is  of  the  present  ;  it 
has  no  past,  because  it  has  no  memory,  no  intelligence  ;  it  has 
no  future,  because  it  has  no  hope  ;  it  cannot  aspire,  it  only 
does  that  whickis  done  to  it  ;  it  acts  as  it  is  acted  upon  ;  and 
therefore,  while  with  intelligence  you  may  predict  the  bloom 
of  the  flower  from  the  sowing  of  the  seed,  or  the  gathering  of 
the  harvest  from  the  planting  of  the  grain,  yet  matter  itself 
is  incapable  of  expressing  aught  that  shall  indicate  futurity  or 
reminiscence,  memory  or  hope. 

In  other  words,  all  there  is  of  the  present  is  material. 
What  exists  as  prophecy  and  memory  abide  in  the  spirit. 
This  wrill  explain  why  matter  so  carefully  veils  from  ordinal} 
life  not  only  all  spiritual  reminiscence,  but  also  all  prophecy. 
This  is  why  mankind  go  on  in  the  dull  treadmill  of  daily  care 
without  hope,  without  promise,  unless  the  moral  nature  he 
quickened  and  the  spiritual  aspirations  awakened.  This  is 
(31) 


180 

why  lie  who  seeks  for  the  immortal  through  the  senses  alone, 
can  never  be  sure  to-morrow  that  he  has  not  been  deceived 
to-day,  for  the  senses  will  not  register  in  his  memory  that 
which  you  require  for  evidence  in  the  senses.  As  you  must  eat 
to-morrow  because  yon  will  then  be  hungry  ;  as  your  bodies 
must  be  clothed  anew  with  every  succeeding  season;  so  the 
physical  must  be  continually  supplied  with  evidence,  and  the 
senses  must  be  continually  in  activity,  not  to  become  lethargic 
and  devoid  of  the  capacity  of  use.  Therefore  spiritual  testi- 
mony cannot  come  through  the  senses  of  man. 

Record  this  as  a  fact,  that  neither  in  the  olden  time 
through  "signs  and  wonders"  alone  did  men  believe,  nor 
does  it  to-day  form  the  ground-work  of  belief,  that  the  senses 
are  satisfied.  They  will  be  dissatisfied  to-morrow,  and  another 
day  they  will  requre  another  evidence.  But  once  give  to  the 
mind  a  single  proof  and  you  have  the  prophecy  for  eternity. 
It  is  the  mind  of  man  alone  that  is  capable  of  judging  of  evi- 
dence, and  in  this  is  the  origin  of  prophecy. 

It  is  no  more  difficult  to  conceive  prophecy  as  one  of  the 
attributes  of  the  spirit,  primarily,  than  to  conceive  sensation 
as  an  attribute  of  matter.  The  eyes,  the  organ  of  hearing,  the 
sense  of  touch,  all  are  constructed  with  reference  to  phy- 
sical adaptation.  And  he  who  does  not  know  the  science  of 
optics  nevertheless  knows  that  without  eyes  he  cannot  see. 
That  sort  of  preconciousness  which  exists  in  the  spirit  is  one 
of  the  spiritual  attributes. 

That  some  men  and  women  are  born  in  the  material  life 
with  the  gift  of  prophecy,  is  sure  evidence  that  somewhere  in 
the  realm  of  spirit  all  shall  possess  that  gift.  In  other  words, 
there  is  no  future  to  the  ultimate  soul. 

That  which  measures  time  as  past,  present  and  future 
must  be  the  attribute  of  matter ;  that  which  vou  call  fore- 
knowledge  in  the  material  sense  is  merely  knowledge  in  the 
spirit  ;  that  which  you  think  requires  to-morrow,  next  year, 
and  a  thousand  years  from  now  for  its  fulfillment,  is  already  a 
reality  in  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit.  It  is  not  looking  forward 
when  there  is  only  an  absolute  point  to  view  things  from  ;  and 
the  spirit  governed  by  material  laws  may  well  consider  it 
strange  that  one  should  be  able  to  tell  with  certainty  what 


131 

will   occur  another  year,  ten    years,   a  hundred   years   from 

to-day. 

But,  if  in  the  realm  of  spirit  there  is  no  year,  there  is  no 
hundred  years,  but  all  is  now,  and  that  which  is  to  occur 
already  exists,  (and  of  course  if  it  exists  in  spirit  it  is  more 
a  reality  than  the  material  expression,)  then  it  simply  is  per- 
ception, not  prophecy  ;  not  in  the  sense  of  time,  but  it  is 
prophecy  in  the  sense  of  spiritual  perception. 

For  instance,  you  have  a  son,  and  to-morrow  or  next 
week  you  intend  to  send  him  to  college.  You  have  made  all 
the  preparation,  you  know  what  your  plans  arc,  and  so  far 
as  you  are  concerned,  it  is  an  actual  fact.  You  communicate 
this  fact  to  some  friend,  and  that  friend  says  to  the  son,  "I 
know  what  your  father  intends  to  do."  He  predicts  with  the 
certainty  of  the  information  derived  from  you  ;  and  if  the  son 
had  no  means  of  knowing  that  you  had  held  conversation  with 
his  father  upon  the  subject,  surely  that  would  be  prophecy. 

Whosoever  knows  all  things  must  be  the  one  that  designs 
all  things.  Though  men's  finite  plans  very  often  do  succeed, 
in  the  infinite  plan  there  can  be  no  failure.  The  only  diffi- 
culty with  the  finite  plan  is,  that  it  is  not  always  arranged  with 
reference  to  the  infinite  ;  therefore  may  fail. 

But  the  infinite  plan  cannot  fail  ;  and  that  life  or  intelli- 
gence brought  into  contact  with  the  absolute  universe  must 
know  all  things  that  pertain  to  that  absolute  realm,  as  far  as 
its  existence  is  concerned. 

In  that  sense,  then,  spirits,  angels  and  messengers 
prophecy.  In  that  sense  human  beings  are  endowed  with  the 
gift  of  prophecy  through  spiritual  perception,  or  the  awakening 
of  that  faculty  in  the  spirit  that  perceives  all  things  without 
reference   to  time. 

"  Then,  "  says  the  questioner,  "  this  must  awaken  all  the 
train  of  events  and  thoughts  concerning  predestination,  fore- 
ordination,  destiny,  fatality. 

By  no  means.  Foreordination  is  a  theological  term 
expressly  coined  to  indicate  the  destiny  of  souls  with  reference 
to  salvation;  therefore  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  term. 

Predestination  belongs  to  the  same  category;  the  principle 
has  been  used  theologically  merely.     Destiny  we  accept  as  a 


132 

word,  since  it  includes  not  only  that  which  is  without  you  but 
that  which  is  contained  within  you. 

Each  flower  bears  its  own  destiny  by  the  germ  that  it 
holds.  The  winds,  the  sunshine,  the  chemical  laws  of  the 
earth  are  incidents  in  the  unfoldment  of  that  destiny,  and 
without  the  germ  there  could  be  no  HI  v ;  without  the  root,  no 
plant  or  tree.  Therefore  the  germ  of  your  destiny  is  within 
you;  the  impulse  to  grow  must  be  there,  and  the  favoring 
winds,  and  sunshine,  and  chemical  attributes  of  soil  all 
around  you  form  the  incidents  of  your  growth. 

Destiny  is  not  so  much  what  men  do  as  what  they  are, 
since  what  they  are  is  the  occasion  of  their  doing.  Therefore, 
when  you  trace  a  human  life  spiritually,  it  is  not  so  much  the 
event  that  is  traced,  as  that  the  fact  of  what  is  within  you  is 
already  stamped  in  your  being. 

A  good  naturalist  can  tell  by  the  germ  or  embryo  the  land 
of  insect,  bird  or  other  creation  that  will  be  unfolded  from  the 
germ;  and  under  the  conditions  that  are  termed  incidental,  he 
is  perfectly  certain  that  such  and  such  germs  will  result  in  cer 
tain  orders  of  natural  existence. 

The  awakened  spirit,  the  one  who  is  accustomed  to 
perceive  the  nature  of  things,  can  declare  from  perception 
what  is  within  you;  can  know  what  is  destined  to  be  awakened 
from  within  and  how  unfolded;  and  as  skillfully  as  a  mechanic 
or  artisan  tempers  the  finely  wrought  steel,  he  can  say  how  one 
event  after  another  will  be  necessary  to  bring  forth  the  powers 
of  your  being. 

These  are  not  the  result  of  chance.  Individual  lives  must 
be  governed,  if  governed  at  all,  by  laws  that  are  capable  of 
being  perceived;  it  only  requires  that  those  laws  and  the 
capacity  to  perceive  them  shall  be  co-existent  one  with  the 
other.  That  the  laws  are  there,  even  if  you  do  not  perceive 
them,  must  be  as  evident  as  that  the  universe  was  governed  by 
law  before  man  had  knowledge  of  astronomy,  or  chemistry,  or 
geology.  No  science  has  created  the  laws  which  it  perceives. 
A  prophecy  is  not  something  that  creates  destiny,  but  which 
perceives  it. 

The  spiritual  atmosjDhere  or  quality  of  intelligence  that 
discerns  the   future  is,   therefore,  a  quality  belonging  to  the 


133 

realm  of  the  spirit  alone;  to  the  realm  within  you,  which  is 
spiritual  ;  to  the  realm  in  the  beyond,  that  is  spiritual.  Ami 
while  there  are  prophecies  that  fail,  still  the  more  the  spirit  is 
unfolded  to  the  absolute  condition  of  the  univ<  rse,  the  more 
correct  is  prophecy. 

"Then,"  says  one,  "  why  may  we  not  l>e  guided  so  thai 
mistakes  shall  be  avoided  ?  and  next  year  we  may  be  wealthy, 
and  the  following  year  we  may  be  gre 

Ah  !  here  is  where  the  whole  working  of  the  law  must  be 
known.  No  individual  power  in  the  universe,  (and  the 
wiser  that  power  is,  the  less  inclination  is  there  to  forestall 
your  history,)  no  individual  power  can  rob  you  of  your  expe- 
rience. The  life  that  is  forestalled  is  not  the  life  thai  is  expe- 
rienced. You  may  be  warned,  but  if  you  are  not  ready  to 
heed  the  warning,  you  go  blindly  on  in  your  way,  and  only 
waken  on  the  morrow,  to  say,  "  I  wish  I  had  heeded  the  warn- 
ing of  danger."     But  you  do  not  until  you  are  ready. 

Prophecies  are  given,  not  for  men  to  follow,  but  that  it 
may  be  known  that  in  the  realm  of  the  spirit,  in  the  realm  of 
soul,  there  is  an  absolute  law,  which  if  you  are  amenable  to, 
guides  you  morally  aright,  just  as  the  physical  laws  of  your 
being,  when  observed,  guide  you  physically  aright.  That  no 
man  can  separate  himself  from  those  inevitable  and  divine 
powers  ;  that  he  must  be  governed  by  that,  ultimately,  which 
is  absolute,  and  that  which  makes  his  destiny;  not  by  refus- 
ing to  conform  to  those  laws,  but  by  conforming  to  them. 

The  law  of  his  being  is  the  recognition  that  the  Infinite  is 
equal  to  the  whole,  and  that  man  is  but  one  of  the  parts  ;  that 
he  cannot  be  equal  to  the  whole,  and  that  he  can  do  individ- 
ually only  that  which  he,  in  relation  to  the  wdiole,  is,  as  an 
individual,  capable  of  doing  ;  that  beyond  that  he  has  no 
power,  no  rule,  no  guidance,  but  must  conform  to  the  law 
that  governs  the  whole,  just  as  in  mathematics,  the  inferior 
part,  or  the  unit,  must  be  subservient  to  the  whole  or  the 
entire  sum  that  is  created. 

With  this  thouo-ht  in    vour  mind    you   can  easilv  discern 
how  an  intelligence,  wise  and  good,  and  with  every  perception 
of  that  which  is,  which  must  he  coming  to  you.  will  still  with- 
hold it  from  you  for  obvious  reasons. 
(32) 


134 

If  it  is  good,  you  do  not  wish  that  the  sensation,  or  the 
surprise,  shall  be  taken  from  you  by  previous  revelation  of  it. 
If  it  is  sorrowful,  it  certainly  does  not  prepare  you  for  it  to 
live  it  over  every  day  in  advance.  When  great  sorrow  comes, 
(as  it  must  inevitably,)  then  the  spirit  is  made  strong  in  an 
instant  ;  but  you  do  not  prepare  a  man  for  a  long  journey  by 
robbing  him  of  food  and  rest  in  advance.  You  keep  him  shel- 
tered, and  strengthened,-  and  nourished,  until  he  is  to  start 
out  upon  the  journey,  and  then  with  God-speed  he  goes  from 
you . 

No  spirit  will  rob  you  of  your  moral  support  in  that  great 
emergency  by  predicting  disaster,  unless  in  individual  cases  it 
becomes  necessary  to  teach  a  great  lesson  to  you  or  to  the 
world. 

If  your  moral  and  spiritual  natures  are  in  such  a  position 
or  condition  as  to  require  a  distinct  prediction  either  of  adver- 
sity or  joy — of  joy,  that  you  may  look  forward  to  it ;  of  adver- 
sity, that  you  niay  know  that  there  is  a  power  guiding — then 
it  is  predicted.  But  beware  of  those  messengers  that,  when 
you  are  prying  into  the  future  tell  you  glibly  of  a  long  line  of 
events  that  never  do  transpire,  never  can  transpire,  and  if  they 
were  to  transpire  would  be  of  no  value.  These  would  not  be 
told  by  a  wise  and  beneficent  sj^irit. 

The  distinct  predictions  in  history  that  have  tended  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  man's  spiritual  growth,  have  either  occur- 
red in  marked  instances  of  individual  life,  where  the  revela- 
tion and  design  of  the  prophecy  was  to  work  wonders  in  that 
life,  or  they  have  been  concerning  the  nations  which,  in  their 
corruption  and  blindness,  refuse  to  perceive  the  law  of  justice 
and  of  human  liberty  ;  and  the  prophets  have  stood  high  upon 
the  mountains  of  observation,  and  given  to  the  nations  the 
destiny  that  was  to  come  to  them.  But  there,  as  in  individual 
life,  it  was  seldom  heeded  ;  and  because  of  their  blindness 
these  predictions  were  given  as  a  beacon  light  and  guidance 
to  other  nations.  Yet  how  rarely  it  is  that  a  nation  follows 
the  guidance  of  its  prophets — those  seers  and  teachers  who 
live  far  beyond  their  days,  and  express  the  wonders  of  the 
new  light  and  the  new  love. 

See  where  in  your  own  country  slavery  fastened  its  fangs 


135 

upon  the  constitution,  notwithstanding  the  prophetic  warnings 
of  Jefferson  and  Thomas  Paine  ;  see  where  in  your  own  land 
the  heralders  of  freedom  gave  forth  the  warning  cry,  and 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  his  coadjutors  prophesied  the  end 
that  must  come  because  the  nation  was  blind.  See  where 
Israel,  a  thousand  times  scourged,  still  would  not  heed  her 
prophets,  but  would  bend  to  the  idols  of  Moloch  and  wor- 
ship at  the  shrine  of  Mammon.  And  later,  see  where  Jeru- 
salem, under  the  mild  yet  searching  scrutiny  of  the  Man 
of  Sorrow,  refuses  to  turn  from  her  external  idolatry  of  power  ; 
and  Christ  said,  "  O  Jerusalem  I  would  have  gathered  thee  as 
a  hen  gatherest  her  chickens  under  her  wing,  but  thou  wouldst 
not.  "  Thus  saith  the  prophet  forever;  "I  would  have  guided 
thee,  but  thou  wouldst  not.  " 

This  rebellious,  self-asserting,  aggressive  human  life  must 
have  its  warfare  and  contention  before  it  can  heed  the  prophets  ; 
and  only  in  the  day  of  affliction,  humiliation  and  sorrow 
does  the  outward  man  learn  to  heed  the  lessons  of  the  spirit. 

Had  you  each  heeded  the  monitions  from  within — some 
voice  that  has  prompted,  some  light  that  would  have  guided— 
how  many  sorrows  might  have  been  averted.  But  that  very 
' '  might  have  been  "  is  what  each  one  must  conquer  in  his  life 
by  learning  obedience  to  the  highest  obedience  ;  to  the  best 
that  is  in  you  ;  not  the  lowest. 

You  counsel  of  your  senses,  they  may  lead  you  in  one 
direction;  you  counsel  of  pride,  of  worldly  wisdom,  of  human 
judgment,  they  may  lead  you  in  another  direction.  You 
counsel  of  intellect  and,  though  exalted  and  refined  compared 
to  the  senses,  it  still  leads  you  into  sophistical  ways,  and  you 
find  yourself  brought  blankly  against  the  wall  of  materialism 
and  annihilation.  Yon  counsel  of  your  intuitions  to-day  that 
which  you  wish  you  had  heeded  yesterday;  that  which  this 
year  you  listen  to,  last  year  was  trying  to  guide  you. 

This  is  the  light  that  stands  forever  as  a  beacon-fire  above 
the  shores  of  time,  and  lo  !  it  never  fails  you.  Shining  on  for- 
ever, this  radiance  is  still  the  same;  it  knows  the  pathways 
that  the  soul  must  tread;  it  knows  the  destiny  that  crowns 
your  line  of  life;  it  knows  the  powers  that  are  concealed  within 
you,  the  joys  and  the  sorrows  that  shall  come  to  you  as  bene- 
dictions and  blessings  to  lead  and  unfold  you  aright. 


136 

This  veil  of  the  future,,  Napoleon  sought  to  turn  aside 
when  through  the  wonderful  seer,  Madame  LeNormand,  he  saw 
the  destiny  of  France;  he  saw  his  own  glory  and  his  own 
downfall;  he  saw  the  life  of  the  noble  woman  he  loved  wrecked 
at  the  shrine  of  ambition,  and  the  Nemesis  of  justice  and 
destiny  bear  him  away  to  his  fate. 

Such  lives  are  chosen  as  examples  to  point  the  world  that 
even  kings  and  kingdoms  are  not  exempt;  and  meteors  that 
flash  with  power  for  a  moment  across  the  horizon  of  earth  still 
cannot  shape  the  destiny  of  nations  against  the  law  of  justice 
and  of  right,  not  even  against  the  law  of  woman's  love;  for 
whosoever  spurns  a  nobler  for  a  baser  feeling  must  inevitably 
reap  the  result  of  thediarvest  that  he  has  sown. 

Therefore,  when  prophecy  is  given  to  such  as  these,  it  is 
to  show  the  world  that  somewhere  in  the  universe  all  is  law, 
order,  harmony;  that  the  seeming  discords  and  discrepancies 
of  earth  are  held  somewhere  in  divine  accord;  and  though  an 
infant  hand  may  make  an  instrument  to  sound  out  of  tune, 
the  master's  touch  can  restore  the  harmony,  and  all  be  in 
accord  again. 

Prophecy  is  the  divinest  gift  the  world  can  know;  there- 
fore the  most  veiled,  the  most  kept  out  of  sight.  Only  those 
supremely  wise  are  endowed  with  this  gift  ;  only  those  who 
know  how  to  use  carefully  and  considerately  can  possess  it 
accurately.  Bunglers  and  imitators,  those  who  may  consci- 
entiously think  they  prophesy,  still  are  not  allowed  to  do  so, 
may  not  ruthlessly  roll  the  curtain  away  that  divides  you  from 
the  future,  nor  rob  any  life  of  the  necessary  steps  that  it  must 
take.  It  is  the  experience  born  of  your  own  heart-struggles 
that  becomes  wisdom  and  knowledge  ;  and  though  the  proph- 
ets may  know  your  future,  they  will  never  by  so  much  as  a 
single  whisper  render  you  weaker  or  less  powerful  to  cope 
with  that  destiny. 

Men  cannot  be  infants  always  ;  you  cannot  always  be  in 
the  swaddling  clothes  of  childhood.  You  must  turn  to  such 
sources  of  knowledge  as  you  have.  If  you  seek  those  of  earth, 
they  will  guide  you  ;  if  you  seek  those  of  intellect,  they  also 
will  guide,  with  feeble  and  uncertain  step  it  is  true.  But  if 
you  seek  the  diviner  knowledge  ;  if  you  are  born  into  its  pos- 


137 

session  ;  if  it  comes  to  you  after  years  of  struggle,  then  you 
range  the  mountain  tops  ;  you  ai*e  above  the  immoral  ;  you  are 
beyond  the  vicissitudes  ;  you  are  in  the  midst  of  the  actualities 
of  existence. 

That  which  is  revealed  upon  the  surface  of  time  is  but  the 
expression,  the  most  external  form  of  evidence  in  the  universe. 
That  which  the  senses  can  perceive  is  of  course  the  least  val- 
uable unto  the  spirit,  and  is  the  tardy  indication  of  what  the 
spirit  has  already  foreseen  as  demonstration  ;  is  the  tardy 
acknowledgment  of  prophecy,  whether  it  be  in  science  or  in 
spirit. 

Herschel,  with  mathematical  vision  perceiving  a  distant 
planet  before  he  could  demonstrate  it  to  his  compeers,  all  the 
prophets  of  science  standing  with  their  armor  on  to  receive 
the  new  truth,  and  ready  for  its  acceptance,  while  the  world 
scorned  them  ;  Galileo,  with  the  poison  lurking  in  his  veins  ; 
Socrates,  preaching  immortal  life  while  the  death  struggle  was 
going  on  within  his  body  ;  Leverrier,  and  a  score  of  others, 
like  sublime  prophets  of  science  marching  up  the  steeps  of 
their  own  predictions,  certain  and  secure  that  one  day  the 
sluggard  senses  would  follow. 

So  in  the  realm  of  spirit  truth  holds  absolute  sway,  and 
sometimes  for  the  guidance  of  man  this  light  gleams  through 
the  outward  intelligence  ;  this  indication,  like  a  grand  and 
guiding  light,  flashes  upon  you,  and  the  mariner  on  the  sea  of 
life  watches  for  that  beacon  star.  Guiding  and  directing 
always,  you  can  safely  follow  it.  But  you  cannot  follow  it 
blindly,  not  with  credulity,  not  with  external  sloth,  not  with 
unwillingness  to  labor  and  do  your  part.  Only  when  labor  is 
accomplished  ;  only  when  the  sorrow  has  been  experienced 
and  overcome  ;  only  when  the  spirit  stands  free  and  pure, 
recognizing  the  guidance,  can  that  guidance  freely  come  to 
you. 

You  are  not  ready  yet  for  the  wonderful  realm  of  the  spirit 
to  pour  its  treasures  upon  the  world.  Men  are  too  mercenary  ; 
they  will  seek  the  prophecy  for  some  material  gain  ;  but  for 
this  they  would  not  turn  aside  one  jot  or  tittle  from  their  daily 
pursuits  ;  they  would  seek  the  fortune-teller  for  what  can  be 
told  of  greed,  the  stock  exchange,  the  rise  and  fall  of  specula- 
OS) 


138 

tion  here.  But  for  all  that  can  be  revealed  of  the  treasure  of 
the  spirit  they  would  not  cross  the  threshhold  of  a  single  door 
nor  spare  one  moment  from  their  worship  of  mammon. 

How  shall  you  be  t.iusted  with  the  larger  things  in  the 
Father's  kingdom,  if  over  these  spiritual  things  you  are  such 
unworthy  servants  ?  How  shall  humanity,  with  its  blindness 
and  self-seeking,  understand  the  wonders  of  the  spiritual  king- 
dom, when  only  pride  and  outward  love  of  gain  guides  your 
foots  leps  to  the  altar '? 

' l  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  and  its  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added,"  said  the  Master.  It 
means  just  this  :  if  you  are  in  the  centre  of  a  sphere  you  can 
perceive  the  radiations  in  all  directions  ;  you  are  master  of  the 
situation.  But  if  you  are  only  upon  the  circumference,  you 
may  not  be  able  to  perceive  more  than  one  of  the  lines  of  light 
that  lead  to  the  centre.  A  prophet  is  one  who  is  in  the  centre 
of  the  wheel ;  like  the  one  who  has  command  of  the  arena,  his 
eye  is  upon  all;  every  power  is  dominant  to  his  will;  and  with 
a  firm  and  distinct  look,  like  the  ancient  gladiator  who  could 
vanquish  the  wildest  and  fiercest  brute  forces  by  the  intelli- 
gence, or  by  the  power  within  his  vision,  so  it  is  with  man  in 
the  centre  of  this  great  wheel  of  destiny  ;  he  is  master.  He  is 
ungoverned  by  circumstances,  he  rules  them  ;  he  is  not  guided 
by  events,  he  fashions  them  ;  he  is  not  subservient  to  joys  or 
affected  by  sorrows,  for  he  is  above  them.  But  let  him  wan- 
der around  the  devious  wheel  of  fortune,  waiting  for  it  to  turn 
and  yield  its  treasures  to  his  hand,  and  Pandora's  box  is  not 
more  perplexing,  for  he  will  wait  for  the  very  last  turn. 

Standing  in  the  centre,  all  things  radiate  towards  him  ; 
spiritual  powers  obev  him;  he  is  one  with  them,  and  they  are 
one  with  him.  But  standing  without  them,  he  must  wait  until 
they  come,  or  he  must  battle  on  in  the  darkness  of  that  outer 
world  which  does  not  perceive  the  light. 

But  by  this  divine  gift  of  prophecy,  this  power  that  is 
present  in  your  souls,  you  can  ward  off  fear,  and  sorrow,  and 
danger.  Yesterday  you  might  have  dreaded  the  approach  of 
death  ;  but  now  when  the  silent  messenger  is  in  your  very 
presence  ;  when  your  loved  ones  lie  before  you  prostrate  ;  when 
the  sweet  sleep  of  death  has  sealed  the  eyes,  a  calm  comes  over 


L39 

you  unborn  of  the  external  brain,  which  is  no  pari  of  the  out- 
ward nature,  but  the  divine  hush  of  the  spirit,  as  though  the 
infinite  had  spoken  to  you  out  of  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 
and  said,   "  This  is  my  realm." 

You  cannot  murmur,  you  cannot  complain;  it  is  above 
you,  and  you  bend  to  the  wonder  of  that  infinite  Power. 
Then  with  silent  but  yet  palpable  touch  the  angel  of  prophecy 
unseals  the  vision  of  your  spirit,  and  you  enter  into  the  realm 
of  the  beyond  with  the  blessed  dead.  This  is  prophecy;  it  is 
the  unsealing  of  the  fountains  of  life  when  the  death-stroke 
comes;  it  is  the  cleaving  in  twain  of  the  rock-bound  shore  of 
time  when  eternity's  waves  wash  near;  it  is  the  voice  of 
prophecy  pleading  from  within  the  soul  for  that  which  is 
stronger  than  death,  stronger  than  mortal  life — the  infinite 
and  abiding  Love. 

We  cannot  understand  how  minds  of  usual  intelligence 
can  believe  that  the  whole  physical  realm  is  under  the  influ- 
ence of  law;  that  cause  and  effect  govern  the  atom  from  its 
very  beginning  of  organic  life  to  the  very  largest  sun  of  the 
universe;  that  every  leaf  and  blade  of  grass,  and  every  insect's 
wing  is  under  the  control  of  immutable  law,  and  yet  when 
they  enter  the  realm  of  mind  and  spirit  throw  aside  this 
thought,  and  believe  man  to  be  a  victim  of  chance  and  ungov- 
erned  and  ungovernable  powers  of  whatsoever  mystery  may 
lead  beyond  this  bare  and  barren  vale  of  destinies. 

To  us  this  is  the  most  preposterous  proposition  in  the 
universe  :  that  mind  superior  to  all  matter,  that  manifests 
intelligence,  and  the  only  part  of  man  that  can  by  any  possi- 
bility survive  as  an  individuality  the  change  called  death,  is 
still  not  governed.  To  feel  that  you  are  floating  aimlessly 
upon  the  sea  of  infinite  life  without  chart,  compass,  or  rudder 
in  the  blindness  of  atheism. 

To  us  the  universe  is  a  unit  and  matter  the  smallest  pari 
of  that  unit.  To  us,  man  is  governed  by  immutable  law,  but 
is  under  the  dominion  of  the  smallest  and  feeblest  portion  of 
that  law.  The  greater  part  is  the  moral  universe  thai  encom- 
passes and  girds  us  round  about;  not  only  with  lightning 
flashes  of  conscience;  not  only  with  a  sword  like  that  of 
Michael  suspended  over  every  Garden  of  Eden  that  you  desert 


140 

for  passion  or  for  external  pride,  but  lovingly,  divinely  and 
in  the  most  benign  and  perfect  manner,  the  love  of  the  Infinite 
encircling  you  round  about  with  a  divine  shield  forever. 

You  are  not  like  bats  fluttering  towards  the  light  that  will 
consume  you,  or  like  the  giddy  moth  scorching  your  pinions 
in  the  sublime  radiance  of  the  sun  of  splendor  that  will  extin- 
guish your  light  ;  but  tenderly,  and  by  such  pathways  as  you 
need  to  be  guided,  and  by  such  aids  as  will  strengthen  with- 
out enfeebling  you,  every  human  life  is  led,  every  human  life 
is  held  secure  in  the  keeping  of  the  Infinite.  And  as  no  ray 
uf  light  passes  from  the  sun  unto  the  earth  without  being  capa- 
ble of  again  being  traced  to  that  sun,  so  you,  held  by  these 
infinite  and  numberless  lines  of  light,  are  strengthened  from 
above  and  supported  from  beneath  by  the  wonderful  realm  of 
prophecy. 

It  is  the  spirit's  breath  ;  it  is  the  soul's  substance  ;  it  is 
the  divine  manna  upon  which  you  feed  ;  those  hidden  springs 
whereat  you  drink  and  quench  the  thirst  of  the  spirit,  without 
which  the  burning  sands  of  time  would  be  unendurable,  the 
darkened  wilderness  of  earthly  life  would  yield  nothing  to 
you,  and  without  which  no  soul  would  be  conscious  of  immor- 
tal life. 

To  feel  certain  that  you  are  not  alone  ;  to  launch  your 
bark  upon  an  eternal  sea  where  you  cannot  be  wrecked  ;  to 
feel  sure  that  you  have  guidance  ;  that  there  are  laws  as  inva- 
riable as  those  governing  the  material  universe  that  shape  and 
govern  your  destiny,  unto  which  you  will  turn  at  last  as  inev- 
itably as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  is  a  source  of  great  strength 
and  consolation. 

Such  is  the  single  and  only  moral  proposition  of  the  uni- 
verse that,  whereas  externally  all  seems  uncertain,  in  the 
spirit  all  is  certain.  Here  all  is  doubt  and  shadow  ;  there  it 
is  light.  Here  all  is  complaint  and  bitterness  ;  there  is  the 
solution  of  it  all — the  divine  solvent  of  God's  love  pervading 
your  weakness,  filling  your  incompleteness  with  its  divine 
potency,  and  making  the  best  that  is  within  you  triumphant 
forevermore.     This  is  the  Gift  of  Prophecy. 


141 

The  Gift  of  Miracles, 

By    an    Ancient     Wonder-Woek  i  r 


"  To  another  is  given  the  working  of  miracles  by  the  same 
spirit." 

There  can  be  no  greater  miracle  than  life  itself  ;  the  per- 
petual, ever-moving,  ever-changing,  yet  unchaugable  currents 
of  existence. 

But  that  which  is  usual  becomes  commonplace,  and  man 
forgets  in  the  treadmill  of  daily  existence  the  miracle  of  the 
sun's  rays,  the  wonderful  glory  of  light,  the  splendor  and 
potency  of  daily  creation.  For  ci'eation  is  not  that  which  was, 
but  that  which,  perpetuated,  is  the  passing  before  your  vision 
of  the  continual  and  ever  flowing  tides  of  being,  that  to-day  and 
to-morrow  will  work  their  wonders  in  the  visible  universe,  and 
continue  the  working  of  the  miracle  of  existence  forever. 

But  man  forgets  that  that  which  is  common  is  likewise 
wonderful.  That  the  air  that  he  breathes,  the  sun  that  shines 
upon  him,  the  bodily  structure  that  he  inhabits  is  continually 
a  miracle  of  existence. 

It  is  customary  for  the  scientific  mind  to  suppose  that 
somewhere  or  somehow,  by  some  innate  process  in  nature, 
the  universe  has  been  set  in  motion,  and  that  that  motion  and 
order  of  existence  innate,  in  the  universe,  continues  to  perpet- 
uate itself  according  to  certain  laws,  formulated  by  no  one, 
created  by  no  one,  fashioned  by  no  one,  but  notwithstanding, 
all  potent,  all  powerful  in  their  existence  ;  manifesting  intelli- 
gence without  intelligence  ;  doing  that  which  is  the  potential 
power  of  actual  understanding  without  understanding  ;  doing 
blindly  that  which  man  seeks  consciously  to  perform.  This  is 
the  statement  of  the  Materialist. 

To  us  it  is  the  blindest,  feeblest,  most  imbecile  production 
of  human  weakness.  To  us  it  is  the  stultification  of  that  in  man 
which  continuously  and  forever  protests  against  it  ;  the  con- 
scious action  of  the  human  will,  the  conscious  discover} 
through  intelligence  of  laws  that  understandingly  govern  the 


universe. 


(31) 


142 

Therefore  again  we  repeat,  the  wonderful  and  perpetual 
miracle  of  the  universe  is  life.  But  that  class  of  miracles  of 
which  we  are  to  treat  in  this  discourse  must  belong  to  a  differ- 
ent category. 

The  usual  laws  of  nature,  as  they  are  termed — that  is,  the 
laws  that  once  set  in  motion  seem  to  govern  the  visible  and 
invisible  material  universe — are,  in  their  course,  unless  inter- 
rupted by  other  laws,  undeviating. 

The  world  of  matter  seems  to  have  been  set  in  motion  and 
carries  out  its  result  or  intention  of  generic  life,  of  organic 
being,  without  seeming  intervention.  The  emphasis  is  given 
to  the  word  "  seeming  "  from  what  will  hereafter  follow,  but 
the  world  seems  to  move  in  its  ordinary  course  without  inter- 
vention from  any  source. 

If  one  were  to  watch  the  constant  working  of  a  steam 
motor,  and  be  unable  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  the  engi- 
neer, he  might  conclude  that  once  having  been  set  in  motion 
the  steam  motor  would  be  capable  of  carrying  on  its  work 
alone.  But  all  who  are  well  inforcned  are  aware  that,  though 
hidden  from  sight,  a  guiding  and  skillful  mind  is  employed  to 
constantly  watch  and  regulate  and  operate  the  motor,  without 
which  it  could  not  perform  any  intelligent  labor. 

Still  mankind,  notwithstanding  this  observation,  in  watch- 
ing the  visible  results  of  the  universe,  maintain  that  it  is 
capable  of  moving  itself,  and,  in  the  language  of  an  eminent 
unbeliever  of  modern  times,  declares  that  there  is  "no  neces- 
sity for  a  God  anywhere."  Certainly  not,  if  the  Infinite  is  to 
be  measured  by  the  finite  comprehension;  certainly  not,  if  the 
necessity  is  to  be  found  within  the  visible  observation  of  man, 
especially  when  the  universe  already  in  existence  and  a  God 
already  there  performs  the  work  which  the  finite  mind  but 
feebly  observes. 

But  miracle  in  the  especial  sense  of  our  present  discourse 
is  that  which,  without  seeming  concord  with  the  visible  laws 
of  the  universe,  actually  sets  them  aside,  conti-ols  them,  works 
seemingly  at  variance  with  them,  and  intervenes  between  the 
visible  mundane  law  of  the  universe  and  man;  showing  an- 
other set  of  laws  in  existence  somewhere,  another  power  that 
man  has  not  discovered  through  his  senses — a  supermundane 


143 

sphere,  a  supernatural  existence.     Miracles,  therefore,  are  not 

only  proper  as  an  expression  of  the  wonders  of  past  ages,  but 
the  word  in  itself  is  the  only  one  that  can  adequately  express 
that  which  transpires  in  connection  with  the  spiritual  and 
occult  spheres  of  the  universe  undenominated  by  natural  law. 
There  are  many  Spiritualists,  we  understand,  who  object 
to  the  word  "  miracle,"  as  though  it  were  something  impossible; 
yet  in  its  generic  sense  it  has  no  other  meaning  than  the  work- 
ing of  wonders.  Surely  none  will  deny  this  even  in  the 
mighty  processes  of  nature;  much  less  that  which  partakes 
of  the  nature  of  the  spiritual. 

There  are  those  who  sav,  "  But  there  can  be  nothing  bevond 
nature." 

I  beg  your  pardon;  nature  is  but  the  visible  token  and 
clothing  of  the  invisible  spirit  of  the  universe;  nature  is  but 
the  outward  expression  of  which  the  soul  is  supersensual  and 
supernatural.  Therefore  we  choose  to  use  the  term,  not  only 
of  miracle,  but  supermundane  and  supernatural,  as  the  only 
terms  that  will  describe  that  which  transpires  in  connection 
with  the  spirit  of  man  and  the  spirit  of  God  and  His  angels. 
Through  all  human  history  the  working  of  wonders  has 
been  one  of  the  accredited  gifts,  of  the  prophets  of  God. 
Whether  in  the  far  Indias,  under  the  power  and  dominion  of 
the  wonderful  light  of  the  sun,  or  the  sacred  symbolism  of 
fire;  whether  it  be  the  Fakir  working  his  wonders  or  gifts  of 
divinist  Allah;  whether  the  follower  of  Mohammed  performing 
his  gifts  by  consent  of  the  Prophet;  or  whether  it  be  under 
the  Hebraic  law  the  Infinite  wrought  wonders  and  brought 
the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt;  or  under  the  dominion 
of  Christ  and  by  the  bestowment  of  His  gifts,  still  the  miracles 
have  been  wrought  and  accredited,  and  belong  to  the  sacred 
records  of  all  nations. 

That  which  the  spirit  does  under  the  dominion  of  spiritual 
power  is  the  working  of  miracle.  That  which  intervenes  and 
intercedes  between  man  and  the  ordinary  working  of  mun- 
dane or  natural  laws,  whether  it  be  to  the  arresting  of  disease; 
whether  it  be  the  arresting  of  decay  or  decomposition;  whether 
it  be  the  setting  aside  of  the  ordinary  laws  of  gravitation  or 
cohesion  of  matter;  separating  substances,  or  bringing  them 


144 

together;  whether  it  be  the  appearance  of  forms  out  of  the 
seeming  empty  air,  with  all  visibility  and  tangibility,  and  their 
dispersing  again,  ur  whether  it  be  in  any  instance  the  setting 
aside  of  any  of  the  usual  currents  of  natural  law  by  intelli- 
gent, positive  forces — this  is  miracle,  and  this  has  been  the 
gift  of  many  ages. 

All  human  history  records  evidences  of  this  gift  and  this 
power,  and  not  belonging  to  any  class  of  persons  that  can  be 
dominated  by  natural  methods  ;  given  only  to  such  as  the 
power  itself  seeks  out.  Not  conferred  because  of  any  merit  or 
any  demerit  ;  not  the  result  of  any  position  of  place  or  power  ; 
not  the  result  of  any  system  of  education,  still  has  in  some 
sort  been  perpetuated  upon  the  earth. 

In  the  Christian  Church,  under  a  sort  of  apostolic  succes- 
sion, in  the  Hebraic  Church  according  to  the  line  of  prophets, 
are  those  who  are  publicly  endowed  with  the  gift  of  the  spirit 
by  hereditary  descent. 

In  the  Indias,  by  severe  asceticism,  certain  orders  of 
Brotherhood  have  existed  who  cultivated  the  spiritual  gifts  by 
refusing  that  which  would  pander  to  the  senses,  and  by  turn- 
ing their  attention  to  the  spiritual  instead  of  the  material  part 
of  man.  Undoubtedly  much  of  this  retirement,  severity  and 
asceticism  of  life  has  brought  about  strained  and  altogether 
perverted  ideas  of  what  we  mean  by  the  "working  of  mira- 
cles." But  certain  it  is  that  where  human  beings  are  in  the 
peculiar  condition,  whether  it  be  brought  about  by  abnormal 
states,  or  whether  it  be  the  result  of  a  distinct  inpouring  of 
spiritual  gifts,  the  power  of  performing  these  wonders  is  made 
manifest  in  the  East. 

It  was  customary,  first,  for  the  power  to  manifest  itself  in 
the  form  of  healing,  of  moving  objects  without  physical  con- 
tact, and  of  performing  the  various  wonders  accredited  now. 
Then  the  possessor  of  these  gifts  was  taken  in  charge  by  the 
Brotherhood,  having  authority  over  all  of  those  who  are 
endowed  with  the  gift  of  the  spirit,  and  the  lines  of  life  marked 
out  for  them  were  severely  followed.  It  was  believed  that 
those  set  apart  for  the  working  of  wonders  should  pursue  no 
ordinary  avocation,  should  not  engage  in  commercial  trade, 
should    not  in  any  way  have  the  gift  interfered   with   by  the 


145 

usual  pursuits  of  life,  and  should  separate  themselves,  as  far 
as  possible,  from  bodily  contact  and  desires,  or  whatever  in 
the  body  would  mar  the  beauty  and  accurateness  of  that  gift. 
This  was  the  more  desirable,  since  in  those  ages  freedom  of 
opinion,  or  distinct  recognition  of  the  gift,  was  only  possible 
when  under  the  distinct  and  recognized  acceptance  of  the 
orders  of  Brotherhood. 

The  Brotherhood  embraced  in  many  countries  of  the  East 
those  of  various  degrees,  as  priests  or  oracles,  who  presided  in 
the  temples  ;  and  very  seldom  could  any  one  become  initiated 
as  priest  or  sacred  worker  in  any  capacity  unless  he  was 
endowed  with  some  of  the  gifts  of  the  spirit. 

The  wonder-workers  of  the  East  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes  :  those  who  had  the  gifts  of  the  spirit,  and  thereby 
performed  through  the  gift  the  wonders  outside  of  the  sacred 
orders  ;  and  the  sorcerers  or  imitators  who,  as  to-day,  not  pos- 
sessing the  gift  of  the  spirit,  claim  to  perform  the  same  things 
by  sorcery  or  sleight  of  hand.  This  was  so  in  Israel.  Cer- 
tain orders  of  sorcery  were  forbidden,  but  there  were  distinct 
gifts  of  the  spirit  that  were  recognized. 

In  Egypt  there  were  the  worshipers  at  the  true  shrine  of 
Osiris  and  Isis,  while  there  were  others  who  worshiped  but 
the  symbol ;  and  the  Brazen  Serpent  was  but  the  visible  imi- 
tation of  the  serpent  of  life  and  tire  that  encircled  the  Egyp- 
tian temples.  Within  those  temples  none  but  those  having 
spiritual  gifts  could  ever  preside  ;  within  those  temples  none 
but  those  endowed  from  Jehovah  could  ever  officiate.  But 
outside,  in  the  different  schools  of  philosophy,  and  led  on  to 
that  imitation  that  belongs  to  mankind  in  every  age,  there 
were  those  who  wrought  miracles  by  the  deceiving  of  the  senses, 
similar  to  the  illusionists  of  to-day — those  careful  and 
clever  performers,  who,  by  deoeiving  the  senses  seem  to  imitate 
the  genuine  gift  of  the  spirit. 

But  as  much  do  they  differ  as  the  artificial  flower  from  the 
living  flower  that  sheds  its  fragrance  all  around;  as  much  as 
the  carved  statue  differs  from  the  living  man;  as  much  as  the 
superficial  word  spoken  only  externally  differs  from  the  word 
of  truth  conveyed  from  the  heart  and  life  of  man  below. 

Side  by  side  the  false  and  the  true  in  human  history  have 
(35) 


146 

been  handed  down  to  you.  But  there  are  those  in  Christendom 
who  deny  to  the  East  any  real  working  of  miracles;  who  deny 
that  in  India,  or  Persia,  or  Assyria,  or  any  remote  nation  of 
antiquity,  these  wonders  were  performed;  that  in  Judea  there 
were  evidences  of  Jehovah's  power;  but  reserve  to  the  children 
of  Israel  and  to  the  Christian  dispensation  all  evidences  of  the 
working-  of  miracles. 

But  this  denial  is  unfounded.  If  in  the  far  kingdoms  of 
the  East  there  were  no  wonder-workers,  who  was  it  that  dis- 
covered the  presence  of  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  when  Jesus 
came  ?  If  there  were  no  wonder-workers,  how  was  it  there 
came  out  of  the  East  wise  men  to  worship  at  the  shrine  of  the 
meek  and  lowly  Nazarene  ?  Who  was  it  that  bestowed  upon 
him  the  wonderful  constellation  and  the  signs  of  the  sacred 
orders  of  the  East  ? 

And  who  was  it  that  through  all  the  Old  Testament,  and 
even  in  Egypt,  gave  to  Moses  and  to  Aaron  the  sym!  ols  of  the 
most  high  Jehovah  from  the  Egyptian  temples  ?  And  how 
was  it  that  through  the  entire  record  of  the  Children  of  Israel 
these  two  powers — the  spiritual,  that  was  genuine  in  the  East 
and  that  which  was  false  among  the  Children  of  Israel — seem 
to  have  perpetual  conflict,  if  there  was  no  other  recognition  of 
Deity  outside  of  those  who  were  supposed  alone  to  have  the 
thought  and  revelation  of  the  most  high  God  ? 

Why  was  it  that  the  word  Jehovah  was  borrowed  from 
the  Egyptian  temples,  the  signification  of  which  was  only 
known  to  those  initiated  in  the  most  sacred  mysteries  of  the 
order  of  Egypt — the  future,  the  present  and  the  past,  the  only 
infinite  God?  And  that  this  word  was  never  used  by  the 
Children  of  Israel,  until  after  their  bondage  in  Egypt  ?  Why 
was  it  that  all  of  the  symbols  used  by  Moses  after  he  led  the 
Children  of  Israel  through  bondage,  were  the  symbols  of  the 
sacred  orders  of  Egypt  instead  of  that  of  Abram  ?  And 
why  was  it  also  that  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  the 
only  symbol  used  to  designate  his  coming,  was  that  symbol 
that  alone  was  known  in  Persia,  and  through  Persia  was 
formerly  known  in  Egypt  ?  This  star  constituted  the  sacred 
symbol  of  the  Orient,  not  of  the  Children  of  Israel.  And 
why  was  it  that  all   these  symbols,   as  well    as  these   terms 


147 

were  not  only  used  to  herald  the  coming  of  Christ,  l>ut  tin- 
accepted  indication  of  the  Messiahship  in  the  Orient? 

To  deny  the  miracles  of  the  East,  and  use  the  symbols 
sacred  there;  to  refuse  to  accept  the  working  of  the  spirit 
of  God  before  the  Children  of  Israel  ever  had  knowledge  of 
the  name  of  Jehovah,  and  still  to  borrow  thai  name  as  the 
symbol  of  his  presence  in  the  high  temple  of  Jerusalem;  to 
accejjt  the  external  synonyms  of  the  presence  of  God's  power, 
and  refuse  to  believe  that  God  spoke  in  the  far  East  e'er  yet 
the  Son  of  Man  came  unto  earth,  is  certainly  one  of  the 
many  contradictions  of  Christian  theology. 

To  call  Egypt,  Persia  and  India  "heathen,"  those 
from  whom  Christianity  has  descended,  and  from  whom  it 
has  received  in  direct  line,  as  well  as  Spiritualism,  its  choicest 
and  divinest  symbols,  is  to  call  Christendom  heathen  also. 
For  nowhere  upon  the  earth  are  the  symbols  of  the  sun. 
of  fire,  or  of  any  element  of  the  earth  or  air  worshiped  except  as 
symbols.  Nowhere  upon  the  earth  are  the  various  expressions 
used  to  indicate  the  meaning  and  term  of  the  spirit  more 
idolized  than  in  Christendom  is  the  symbol  of  the  Cross. 

Shall  we  call  you  idolators  because  you  have  nothing  but 
forms  with  which  to  express  your  thought  ?  Shall  we  call  you 
heathen  because  you  have  forms  wherewith  to  express  your 
praise? 

Far  away  in  India  at  this  day  there  are  those  who, 
through  fasting  and  prayer  and  gifts  of  the  spirit,  heal  the 
sick,  cast  out  evils,  work  wonders  daily  that  are  unknown 
in  this    Christian    land;    and  you  pronounce  them    heathen  ! 

Far  away  in  India  at  this  hour  there  are  those  who  hold 
communion  with  the  angels  of  God  in  sacred  and  secluded 
temples.  There  are  those  who  go  about  healing  the  sick  and 
doing  good,  in  whose  presence  flowers  spring  up  by  magic, 
and  germs  are  fructified  in  the  space  of  an  hour.  Still  in 
Christendom  among  those  who  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus. 
or  profess  to  do  so,  there  is  denial  of  the  possibility  of  these 
things. 

To-day  far  away  in  India  there  are  those  who  at  this 
minute  are  offering  their  lives  unto  the  Infinite  Spirit,  and 
pouring  out  their  word  and  work  upon  the  world  in  evidence 
of  this  power. 


148 

The  sun,  moon  and  stars,  the  changes  of  seasons,  the 
night  and  the  day,  and  all  forces  of  the  visible  universe,  are  as 
naught  "compared  to  the  light  of  the  spirit  that  lights  up  the 
night  as  with  day,  that  which  subdues  disease;  that  opens  the 
eyes  of  the  blind;  that  cures  the  deaf;  that  causes  leprosy  to 
depart — and  still  this  gift  is  unrecognized  in  Christendom 
save  by  those  who  are  denominated  infidel  or  spiritualist. 

Surely  when  these  influences  exist  in  your  midst,  you  cer- 
tainly, with  broader  conception  and  wider  charity,  can  bridge 
the  chasm  of  history  that  divides  you  from  those  ancient 
nations. 

Through  all  the  Orient  the  fierce  fires  of  Mohammedanism 
have  swallowed  up  the  wonders  of  the  former  faith,  and  only 
in  secret  and  far  away  places,  only  where  the  scourge  of  that 
leprosy  has  never  come,  has  the  original  belief  been  preserved 
in  its  purity  ;  and  there  these  wonders  are  wrought. 

To-day  civilization  brings  you  face  to  face,  not  only  with 
the  Buddhist,  whu  in  simple  faith  abstains  from  food  that 
he  thinks  will  lessen  the  powers  of  the  spirit  ;  but  others  who 
bear  the  sacred  impress  in  their  word  and  works. 

The  gift  of  miracles,  therefore,  is  not  only  possible  from 
history  but  from  present  attestation.  Travelers  returning 
from  the  far  East  give  evidence  of  it,  unless  by  theological 
prejudice  they  refuse  to  attest  that  which  they  have  evidence 
of  ;  but  others  of  larger  and  broader  views  return  to  you  and 
say,  "I  have  seen  these  same  wonders  in  foreign  lands;  I 
have  seen  these  same  workings  among  the  Fakirs  ;  I  know 
them  to  be  true  because  they  encircle  the  earth  with  the 
evidences  of  light." 

What  is  a  miracle  ?  If  in  your  presence  there  occurs  an 
intelligent  manifestation  independently  of  human  organisms, 
that  is  miraculous.  If  anything  that  you  can  count,  anything 
that  you  can  read,  anything  that  you  can  hear,  like  music, 
bearing  evidence  of  intelligence,  law,  whatever  is  expressed 
through  an  insentiate  object — this  is  a  miracle. 

If  disease  is  removed  without  any  visible  cause,  and  if,  for 
instance,  your  presence,  or  your  touch  brings  health  to  that 
suffering  individual  who  has  been  pronounced  incurable,  and 
you  perform  the  cure  without  any  of  the  usual  appliances  of 
medicine — that  is  a  miracle. 


149 

To  attribute  it  to  Mesmerism  does  not  alter  the  fact;  to 
attribute  it  to  Psychology,  the  fact  remains;  to  say  that  one 
may  be  cured  by  the  effect  of  pure  imagination  is  to  give 
imagination  a  signification  which  Materia  Medica  would  do 
well  to  emulate,  for  the  realm  of  imagination  is  of  all  realms 
the  realm  of  miracle,  and  is  that  one  faculty  of  the  human 
mind  that  places  you  in  communication  with  the  divine. 

If,  therefore,  this  gift  of  healing  comes  into  human  life 
and  regulates  by  adjustment  the  vital  functions,  it  proves  not 
only  that  there  is  power  outside  of  the  supposed  capacity  of 
healing  remedies,  but  that  that  power  is  more  potent,  more 
powerful,  more  palpable,  than  all  remedies  put  together. 
This  gift  of  healing,  therefore,  being  miraculous,  being  spirit- 
ual, being  of  an  order  not  to  be  formulated,  not  to  be  stated, 
is  given  spontaneously;  a  distinct  bestowment  and  power  that, 
in  itself,  overrides  three  of  the  distinct  processes  of  nature, 
namely:  the  process  of  disease  and  the  gradual  receding  and 
gradual  rising  wave  incident  to  recovery  from  disease. 

These  miracles,  like  the  disappearing  of  certain  forms  that 
were  visible  into  invisibility;  these  miracles,  like  the  appear- 
ing of  forms  from  invisibility  to  visibility;  these  miracles,  like 
the  raising  of  objects,  overcoming  the  law  of  gravitation  by 
an  intelligent  power  which  is  not  known  in  any  mechanical 
forces  of  earth;  these  miracles,  like  the  separation  of  bodies 
and  their  readjustment — all  prove  a  power  independent  of  the 
ordinary  workings  of  nature,  which,  when  permitted,  or  when 
necessary,  can  be  exercised  in  connection  with  man  to  reveal 
the  nature  of  the  spirit.  And  that  these  things  occur  to-day, 
and  are  denied  to  antiquity  and  to  other  countries,  proves  the 
narrow  and  limited  range  of  the  mind  that  observes  them. 

That  they  do  occur  to-day  it  is  not  our  province  to  prove 
on  this  occasion,  since  the  proofs  of  them  are  already  in  the 
world.  But  when  Mr.  Zollner  and  four  of  his  scientific  co- 
adjutors declare  they  see  a  simple  table  disappear  in  a  room 
carefully  locked,  bolted  and  sealed,  and  then  reappear  to  their 
vision,  they  but  attest  that  which  all  intelligent  minds  will 
give  them  the  credit  of  being  witness  to.  When  Mr.  Zollner 
offers  to  show  a  continuous  cord  that  he  himself  had  fashioned 
placed  upon  the  leg  of  a  table  under  impossible  circumstances, 
(36) 


150 

he  but  shows  you  that  which  all  the  world  will  accept,  pro- 
vided they  are  possessed  of  the  ordinary  fairness  of  mankind. 
And  when  he  shows  you  a  knot  tied  by  some  power  in  a  con- 
tinuous cord  which  has  not  been  unfastened  nor  broken 
according  to  any  of  the  processes  known  to  science,  he  shows 
you  simply  that  by  another  power  than  that  known  to  any 
mind  connected  with  organic  matter  that  knot  has  been  tied 
in  the  cord.  There  it  is -for  all  to  see  who  will  see.  But  yet 
we  are  told  that  the  day  of  miracles  is  past,  and  that  this  is 
the  result  of  infatuation  and  credulity. 

The  power  of  spirit  over  matter  is  a  power  that  not 
only  renders  disintegration  and  reorganization  possible,  but 
all  ordinary  processes  of  cohesion  and  the  adhesion  of  particles, 
of  the  various  laws  of  attraction  governing  atoms  and  bodies 
m  their  relationship  to  one  another,  must  be  set  aside.  And 
this  spiritual  power  sweeping  down  into  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury—not from  the  Fakirs  of  India,  not  from  the  remote 
regions  of  the  earth,  but  born  here  in  the  midst  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  when  every  life  is  a  life  of  utility,  and  when 
man  will  not  give  either  yesterday  or  to-morrow  the  credit  for 
anything— proves  all  the  more  conclusively  the  miracle  and 
the  wonder  of  its  existence. 

That  to-day  you,  sitting  here  in  your  places,  believe  in 
the  gift  of  healing,  in  the  working  of  wonders,  in  the  visible 
approach  of  spirit  forms,  in  the  power  of  spirits  to  guide  and 
direct  you  accrediting  to  that  supermundane  source  the  occur- 
rences that  must  belong  to  it ;  and  at  the  same  time  active  and 
alive,  and  constant  in  your  daily  duties,  not  giving  unto  the 
material  that  which  does  not  belong  to  it,  nor  to  the  spiritual 
that  which  does  not  belong  there  ;  and  separating  by  your  con- 
scious existence  the  spiritual  from  the  material,  the  super- 
mundane from  the  mundane— this  fact  proves  all  the  more  the 
wonder  of  its  coming-. 

The  miracle  that  lies  about  you  forever,  the  breath  that 
is  in  your  own  form,  the  pulses  of  life  that  surrender  obedi- 
ence to  your  will,  the  response  of  the  body  to  the  spirit— this 
is  often  ignored. 

But  as  with  this  outside  and  superior  power  there  sweeps 
into  the  tenement  of  daily  existence  a  conscious  force   that 


I.'ll 

raises  your  hand,  that  makes  you  write,  that  makes  you  dis- 
course music,  that  makes  you  to  perform  the  work  of  the  artist, 
or  to  speak  the  word  of  wisdom,  or  of  eloquence,  or  of  pro- 
phecy— as  that  power  comes,  so  will  there  come  to  you  grad- 
ually and  consciously  from  the  invisible  workings  of  the  uni- 
verse, from  the  might  and  majesty  of  the  all  Father,  from  the 
wonders  of  His  spiritual  kingdom,  such  triumph  over  the  earth, 
such  triumph  over  the  material  that  enchains  you,  that  you 
will  rise  in  wonder,  in  majesty  and  in  strength. 

No  longer  will  you  believe  it  to  be  a  fable  that  gods  walk 
the  earth  with  men,  or  that  angels  discourse  with  human 
beings  in  visible  forms  ;  but  drawing  you*upward  and  onward 
by  the  majesty  and  magic  of  this  wonderful  law,  all  doors  will 
open  at  your  bidding,  all  temples  will  yield  up  their  treasi 
even  mighty  and  ancient  Egypt  will  reveal  to  you  her  wonders 
from  the  mysteries  of  the  spirit,  and  out  of  the  trammels  of 
darkness  and  time,  and  out  of  the  usual  orders  and  schools  of 
science,  will  be  born  on  earth' those  who  work  the  wonders  of 
the  spirit  by  gifts  and  powers,  unassociated  with  the  age  in 
which  you  live. 

Those  who  do  not  wish  either  to  measure  the  soul  or  its 
qualities  by  the  narrowT  rules  of  earthly  mathematics  or  chem- 
istry, but  rather  would  be  born  into  the  alchemy  of  the  spirit, 
into  the  subtle  wonders,  will  find  that  spirit  is  the  solvent  of 
all  mysteries;  that  beyond  mathematics,  beyond  chemistry. 
superior  to  astronomy,  there  is  the  divine  gift  of  perception,  of 
the  seeing  of  the  life  of  things;  and  will  understand  that  man's 
soul  is  the  centre,  and  the  visible  universe  is  but  the  circumfer- 
ence of  life,  and  that  all  powers  vested  in  man  are  from  within. 
The  great  wonder  is,  not  that  man  lives,  but  that  living  and  pos- 
sessing these  powers  he  does  not  acknowledge  them  in  the  won- 
der and  infinitude  of  love  that  is. spread  out  before  him. 

Now,  as  in  the  beginning,  I  say  the  greatest  miracle  of 
the  universe  is  life  itself.  First,  not  that  a  wheel  is  set  in 
motion  by  organic  law  and  then  goes  on  forever,  hut  that 
each  power  of  the  universe  is  intelligently  moved  now.  That 
there  is  no  springing  up  of  grass  in  springtime,  no  blooming 
of  flowers  in  sequestered  vales,  no  world  moving  in  its  orbit, 
no  sun  lighting  the  spheres  with  splendor,  that  is  not  intelli- 
gently and  consciously  governed. 


152 

That  as  you  govern  in  a  feeble  sense  your  ordinary  life, 
as  you  feebly  aspire  to  the  simple  government  of  a  petty  king- 
dom, but  have  not  yet  governed  the  house  in  which  you  live, 
so  one  day  artery,  and  vein,  and  nerve,  fibre  and  muscle,  and 
the  entire  anatomy  will  be  under  the  bidding  of  that  will 
which  even  now  may  blanch  the  cheek,  give  lightning  flashes 
to  the  eye  and  animate  the   form  with  the  grandeur  of   a  god. 

Another  thousand  years  and  the  earth  shall  lie  at  man's 
feet,  subjugated,  subdued,  triumphed  over  by  the  miracle  of 
intelligence  that  is  within  you. 

Another  million  years,  and  the  earth  will  yield  a  race  of 
demigods  instead  of  feeble,  creeping  things  that  falter  on  their 
way. 

Another  and  another  cycle,  and  out  of  the  majesty  of  time's 
triumph  man  will  measure  the  work  of  the  angels  in  guiding 
and  moving  the  worlds  in  their  places,  and  in  breathing  out 
intelligence  upon  seeming  inanimate  life  until  it  becomes  pro- 
create with  existence. 

And  when  these  attributes  that  are  slumbering  within  you 
shall  have  yielded  more  than  you  dream  of  now,  you  still  will 
have  encompassed  but  the  smallest  portion  of  that  miracle  of 
life,  which  is  eternal. 

To  deny  miracles  is  to  deny  intelligence,  love,  truth, 
knowledge,  and  all  that  is  within  the  universe. 

And  yet  the  groping  worm  will  say,  "  Man  can  think  and 
dream  all  this,  but  it  is  only  chance." 

O  Infinite  Intelligence  that  encompasses  the  finite  !  that 
miraculously  each  day  and  hour  breathes  upon  all  things  its 
appointed  task,  unto  you  is  given  the  godlike  attribute  of 
attending  the  ages;  of  knowing  creative  power;  of  understand- 
ing that  atoms  are  but  the  expression  of  the  Infinite  Life; 
while  souls  are  the  grand  triumph  of  the  eternal  miracle  of 
being. 


153 


The  Gift  of  Knowledge. 


"  To  another  the  gift  of  knowledge  by  the  same  spirit." 

The  Materialist,  the  Agnostic,  the  Secularist,  will  tell  you 
there  is  no  royal  road  to  knowledge.  They  say  that  every  step 
taken  in  the  department  of  science,  of  learning,  of  intellect, 
must  be  the  slow  and  tedious  pathway  of  didactic  instruct  ion  ; 
that  man  knows  nothing  excepting  that  which  he  is  taught, 
and  that  he  must  be  taught  from  the  external  ;  that  the  brain 
receives  impressions,  not  from  within,  but  from  without,  and 
the  whole  realm  of  knowledge  is  relegated  to  the  senses  of  man. 

Not  so  !  Even  the  metaphysician  declares  an  a  priori 
knowledge,  whether  it  belong  to  the  atom  or  the  spirit ;  and 
that  wonderful  German  philosopher  who,  in  disproving  immor- 
tality, has  clearly  proved  it.  Kant  distinctly  declares  certain 
kinds  of  knowledge  to  be  a  priori  to  the  senses. 

Some  men  are  born  with  knowledge  and  perception  of 
knowledge  that  others,  even  with  all  the  schooling  of  all 
universities,  can  never  attain.  Some  have  the  genius  of 
knowledge — they  know  things  without  studying,  they  perceive 
them;  and  as  one  has  music,  another  poetry,  another  art.  so 
some  have  knowledge.  You  ask  them  of  the  affairs  of  State, 
they  are  prophets  politically  ;  you  ask  them  concerning  that 
which  occurred  in  past  time,  and  the  comprehensiveness  is  with 
them  that  enables  them  to  know  what  history  has,  perhaps,  but 
dimly  recorded.     This  may  be  termed  the  genius  of  knowledge. 

But  there  is  another  gift  of  knowledge  separate  from  tins, 
and  distinct  from  the  teaching  of  the  schools.  When  the 
child  who  manifests  no  especial  superiority  either  of  gift  or 
genius  in  any  direction,  is  made  to  speak  facts  unknown  to  the 
child,  language  with  which  the  child  is  unfamiliar,  grammat- 
ical sentences  that  have  never  been  studied,  rhetorical  periods 
that  are  not  the  result  of  culture,  historical  facts  that  could 
not  have  been  obtained  except  by  study  or  instruction  there 
is  a  distinct  evidence  of  the  gift  of  knowledge. 

There  are  only  two  sources  of  knowledge  in  the  universe 
One  is  that  of  embodied  mind — the  mind  of  man  in  the  human 
(37) 


154 

form — -and  the  other  is  disembodied  mind,   spirit,  angel,  or 
God. 

Therefore,  when  knowledge  not  known  to  the  individual 
embodied  mind  is  uttered,  it  is  evidence  of  inspiration — the 
gift  of  knowledge.  This  is  so  distinct  a  gift  that  you  cannot 
mistake  it.  It  conies  in  so  palpable  a  form  that  it  is  not  to  be 
confounded  either  with  the  intuition  of  which  we  have  spoken — 
the  genius  which  seems  to  be  nearly  allied  to  it — nor  any  other 
phase  or  form  of  mental  or  moral  power. 

It  is,  in  other  words,  the  pouring  into  a  receptive  brain, 
not  only  thoughts,  ideas  and  principles,  but  facts.  This  gift 
of  knowledge  is,  perhaps,  though  not  so  wonderful  to  the 
wonder-seeking,  though  it  does  not  appeal  to  the  senses  as  the 
gift  of  miracles  of  which  we  have  spoken,  though  it  may  not 
be  so  enticing  as  the  gift  of  foretelling  events,  and  though 
it  does  not  seem  to  be  as  philanthropic  and  beneficent  as  the 
gift  of  healing,  still  what  is  there  greater  than  knowledge  save 
wisdom  ?  What  is  there  greater  than  wisdom  save  the  ineffable 
Love  that  encouqxisses  and  encircles  the  whole  ? 

If  ignorance  is  the  cause  of  sin,  then  knowledge  must  be 
its  antidote.  If  ignorance  is  the  universal  malady  in  the  world, 
and  to  undo  ignorance  is  to  bring  the  healing  of  all  moral  and 
spiritual  ills,  then  what  can  surpass  this  wonderful  gift  of 
knowledge  ? 

It  is  a  most  singular  fact,  however,  that,  like  all  spiritual 
gifts,  this  gift  of  knowledge  is  held  in  check  by  some  superior 
motive.  It  does  not  come  merely  for  the  sake  of  gratifying 
the  intellectual  gymnast,  who  would  put  it  to  the  test,  any 
more  than  the  wonders  of  Christ,  or  of  modern  niediumship, 
or  any  gift  of  the  spirit  comes  at  the  demand  of  the  curiosity 
seeker. 

The  gift  of  knowledge  comes  in  its  own  way,  speaks  its 
language  at  its  own  time  and  chosen  place;  conies  through  the 
lips  of  the  child,  or  the  gray-haired  man,  or  the  simple-minded 
woman,  just  as  it  determines,  not  as  you  determine.  You 
may  summon  it,  and  it  will  not  appear;  when  you  are  not 
expecting  it,  it  will  come. 

Most  of  the  inspirational  speakers  of  modern  times  can 
be  distinctly  said  to  be  endowed  with  this  gift  of  knowledge. 


1 5  5 

Most  of  those  who  have  been  developed  as  teachers  of  spirit- 
ual truths,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term,  have  been  endowed 
fx'Oin  the  spiritual  and  not  from  the  materia]  standpoint.  And 
while  many  have  ripened  into  Spiritualism  from  the  well-worn 
paths  of  theological  universities,  the  knowledge  thai  is  born 
of  the  spiritual  gift  has  usually  come  to  young  children,  young 
men  and  women  untrained  in  the  schools  of  knowledge,  having 
no  systematic  education,  and  not  at  all  endowed  with  any  of 
the  culture  that  is  afforded  through  those  schools. 

It  is  not  usual  for  us  to  speak  of  persons;  but  the  medium 
who  is  before  yon,  and  the  sister  medium,  [Mrs.  E.  L.  Wat- 
son— Rep.]  to  whom  a  reception  was  given  last  evening,  as 
also  Mr.  Colville,  Mrs.  Nellie  Brigham,  and  a  score  of  your 
best  speakers  and  teachers  on  the  spiritualistic  platform,  are 
those  to  whom  no  other  training  has  been  given  than  that 
which  the  spirit  world  has  afforded.  Facts  known  in  history, 
and  perhaps  unknown  until  stated  through  their  lips  ;  mate- 
rial science  untaught  by  any  external  teaching;  the  percep- 
tion of  truths  or  principles  in  the  universe  that  they  are  not 
at  all  familiar  with  ;  rhetorical  effects  not  the  result  of  culture, 
eloquence  of  elocution,  and  the  details  of  public  speaking 
all  are  the  result  of  the  gift  of  the  knowledge  of  invisible  yet 
palpable  intelligences  ;  the  knowledge  that  is  known  in  spirit 
becomes  the  knowledge  of  those  who  know  it  not,  and  by  no 
system  of  study  whatsoever. 

When  Andrew  Jackson  Davis  was  a  young  man — before 
the  word  mediumship  seemed  to  have  become  obnoxious  to 
him — the  powers  of  his  knowledge  were  derived  from  the  same 
source — the  source  of  inspiration.  Not  that  his  spirit  climbed 
up  to  the  hills  of  knowledge  and  seized  the  facts,  but  that 
those  dwelling  on  the  supernal  mountain  heights  of  spiritual 
knowledge  imparted  those  facts  to  his  brain.  To-day,  alas  ! 
there  are  many  in  Spiritualism  who,  having  obtained  sonic  sim- 
ple portion  of  knowledge  would  fain  deny  the  source  whence 
it  came,  and  would  say:  "I  am  equal  to  any  spirit;  why 
should  I  not  know  these  things  ?" 

You  may  be  equal  to  one  spirit,  but  you  are  not  equal  to 
all  spirits. 

The  difference  between  one  man's  knowledge — which  cer- 


156 

tainly  is  his  own,  and  he  has  a  right  to  express  it — and  the 
knowledge  which  may  be  received  by  the  gift  of  knowledge 
is,  that  the  one  narrow  house  of  knowledge, — if  you  shut  your 
door  by  selfishness  and  pride  to  the  reception  of  greater  knowl- 
edge, that  one  narrow  house  is  the  limit;  while  in  the  kingdom 
of  knowledge  the  greater  possession  is,  that  you  are  receptive 
to  the  knowledge  of  all  other  intelligences  who  have  it.  Do 
not  despise  the  gift  because  instead  of  being  the  result  of  self- 
seeking,  it  is  a  bestowment. 

In  the  olden  time  only  the  knowledge  that  was  born  of 
this  gift  was  valuable.  The  knowledge  of  the  schools  was 
only  external.  The  outward  wonder-worker  was  too  super- 
ficial; but  he  wTho  had  the  gift  of  the  spirit,  whose  knowledge 
came  from  within,  was  revered  as  authority;  wTas  considered 
final. 

In  Persia,  in  India,  among  nations  who  turn  to  oracles  and 
mystics,  they  being  possessed  of  these  gifts,  it  was  the  only 
powTer  that  governed  and  wrought  the  work  of  the  spirit  in 
their  midst. 

When  Lycurgus,  intent  upon  doing  his  country  the  great- 
est possible  favor,  departed,  having  fashioned  laws  that  he  con- 
sidered most  beneficial  for  the  welfare  of  the  people,  he  con- 
sulted the  Oracles,  and  the  gift  of  knowledge  was  there  indi- 
cated in  obedience  to  the  mandate  of  the  Oracle.  He  departed 
from  his  own  land,  leaving  the  heritage  of  justice  and  benefi- 
cent lawTs.  Could  he  have  left  the  gift  of  knowledge  also  ; 
could  he  have  bestowed  upon  his  successor  the  same  power 
which  he  had  consulted,  undoubtedly  that  land,  greatest  in 
moral  directions  of  all  history,  would  have  preserved  its  laws 
inviolable. 

But  human  nature  cannot  lise  above  the  level  of  its  inspi- 
ration and  growth,  and  therefore  however  wonderful  the  law 
may  be,  until  you  have  obtained  the  average  height  of  its  pos- 
session you  can  by  no  possibility  dwell  there. 

But  says  one,  "  Do  you  decry  the  learning  of  the  schools  ? 
Is  it  not  wTell  that  we  shall  have  education  ?"  We  make  no  doubt 
that  all  sources  of  human  knowledge,  though  they  open  by 
devious  paths,  though  they  wander  through  intricate  ways, 
though  they  are  as   shifting   as   the   sands   of   the  sea-shore, 


L57 

though  the  knowledge  which  to-day  is  final  is  fco-morraw  sup<  i 
seeled,    that   still   this   is   the   inevitable   pathway  of   human 
experience.     But  do   not,    therefore,    say,    when  another  and 
superior  power  sweeps  into  human  life,    showing  a  better  and 
different  method,  that  this  is  impossible. 

The  fact  speaks  for  itself ,  that  intuition  is  stronger  than 
reason;  that  the  light  of  this  knowledge  which  is  born  of  the 
spirit  supercedes  the  light  of  the  knowledge  that  is  born 'of 
intellect,  just  as  the  vision  of  man  supercedes  the  dull  sense 
of  touch. 

It  is  the  quickening  breath.  And  we  doubt  not  that  if 
the  schools  and  universities  of  learning  (whose  treadmill  of 
daily  intelligence  grinds  off  the  edges  of  human  inspiration  j 
were  but  to  know  that  it  is  the  intuition  after  all  that  makes 
the  well-spring  of  knowledge,  that  there  would  be  less  of  this 
dullness  in  the  world  and  more  of  true  inspiration. 

Schools  and  universities  of  theology  have  taught  mankind 
that  there  is  no  religion.  Step  by  step,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  to  the  present  time,  it  has  been  the  inevit- 
able result  of  theological  institutions  to  wear  off  the  fine  edge 
of  inspiration  upon  the  daily  grindstone  of.  intellectual  pur- 
suit. And  from  this  weary  labyrinth,  and  from  this  process 
of  intellectual  formulation,  you  have  the  epitome  of  intellectual 
unbelief  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

That  kind  of  liberalism  that  from  Harvard  and  Yale 
and  all  theological  institutions  of  this  land,  and  from  the 
broad  Church  universities  of  Great  Britain,  throws  out  upon 
the  world  the  fine,  aesthetic,  cultivated  materialism  of  the 
nineteenth  century  ;  a  theology  that,  with  the  Bible  in  one 
hand  and  Darwin  in  the  other,  expects  of  its  students  intel- 
lectual gymnastics  that  are  impossible  if  religion  is  to  be 
preserved. 

To-morrow,  or  in  that  coming  time  that  bridges  over  the 
abyss  between  the  past  and  the  present,  restoring  the  inspira- 
tions that  were  genuine  and  cleaving  to  the  sources  of  know  - 
ledge  that  are  divine,  you  will  learn  not  to  un-teach  your 
children,  but  to  teach  them.  You  will  learn  that  growth  is 
knowledge,  and  that  the  child  who  has  quickened  sonic 
knowledge  that  you  may  not  perhaps  understand,  is  still  noi 
(38) 


158 

the  child  to  pass  through  the  usual  regime  of  intellectual  and 
systematic  learning.  Some  children  need  only  to  be  led  ;  to 
to  let  the  intuition  that  is  within  them  make  its  own  oppor- 
tunities, and  let  the  gifts  of  the  spirit  coin  the  words  in  which 
it  shall  express  its  ideas  and  receive  the  eloquence  from  the 
inspiration  above. 

And  just  here  is  a  work  which  Spiritualists  most  need. 
There  are  those  in  the  world  who  say,  "  We  must  have  schools 
for  the  training  of  mediums."  We  make  no  boast;  but  in  what 
school  has  your  speaker  been  trained  that  you  should  wish  to 
take  away  the  influence  of  the  spirit  world,  the  careful  culture, 
the  inspiration,  the  knowledge  that  is  theirs,  and  formulate  it 
to  your  own  level,  and  make  it  the  dull  and  dreary  treadmill 
of  intellectual  pursuit  ? 

When  a  child  of  ten  years  old,  we  took  her  from  the 
training  of  a  master  who  was  bigoted  and  incapable  of  knowing 
the  meaning  of  the  work  of  the  spirit ;  and  since  that  time  no 
work  has  been  touched,  no  book  has  been  read,  no  system  of 
training  pursued  from  the  external  stand-point.  Her  spirit- 
ual and  her  intellectual  culture  are  our  own. 

Will  you  have  schools  for  the  training  of  mediums  when, 
for  thirty-five  years,  the  spirit  world  has  reared  the  teachers  in 
this  system  of  knowledge?  Will  you  have  schools  when 
Christ  said:  "  Take  no  heed  what  ye  shall  say"?  There  is  in 
the  whole  realm  of  Christendom,  perhaps,  but  one  hundred 
clergymen  who  dare  to  obey  this  mandate  of  Christ.  Will 
you  have  schools  when,  from  the  inspiration  of  Luther,  of 
Wesley,  and  the  fervor  and  fire  of  early  Methodism,  the  spirit- 
moving  power  of  the  Quakers,  the  strong  light  of  the  Puritans, 
and  the  first  word  of  Christianity  in  the  unparalleled  beauty 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  you  have  the  expression  of  the 
spirit  ? 

Words  are  not  culture.  Formulated  ideas  are  not  truths. 
The  inspiration  of  the  spirit  world  is  adequate,  not  only  to 
construct  sentences  grammatically,  not  only  to  speak  impres- 
sively, but,  fortunately,  to  do  this  without  robbing  the  mind 
and  spirit  of  its  inspiration. 

If  we  had  our  choice  (it  may  sound  iconoclastic)  we  would 
sooner  trust  the  children  of  the  present  generation  to  the  intu- 


159 

ition  that  is  dominant  within  them  than  to  have  the  mechan- 
ism of  universities  and  schools,  that  to-day  in  hot-beds  of 
intelligence  and  intellectual  growth,  forces  the  young  mind 
into  avenues  that  are  unnatural,  and  sacrifices  the  health  of 
the  body  to  that  forcing  process  of  the  brain. 

If  we  had  our  way,  we  would  run  the  risk  of  inspiration 
taking  care  of  men's  souls,  and  have  done  with  the  bickering 
and  striving  of  theological  societies.  If  we  had  our  wav,  the 
whole  system  of  human  education  would  be  reversed.  It 
would  not  be  what  can  we  make  of  our  children,  but  what  are 
they  ?  that  we  shall  perceive  the  gifts  God  has  given  them,  and 
endeavor  to  unfold  those  gifts. 

I  know  of  no  horticulturist  that  trains  his  plants  and 
tender  shoots  to  grow  by  placing  a  stone-weight  upon  them  ; 
and  I  know  of  no  system  of  grape-growing  that  robs  the  vines 
of  their  beauty  and  productiveness,  by  trampling  upon  them. 
I  know  of  no  way  that  forest  trees  are  made  to  expand  to  their 
native  beauty  and  wonderful  growth  by  putting  iron  bands 
around  them.  And  yet  the  human  mind  has  survived  this 
affliction  for  many  hundred  years.  You  have  to  congraulate 
yourselves  that  you  ai'e  not  idiots  after  all. 

The  power  of  the  spirit  has  proven  itself  to  be  superior  to 
this  sepulchre  in  which  intellect  has  been  placed.  And  now, 
into  this  utilitarian  age,  into  the  midst  of  this  clamor  of  intel- 
lectual growth  and  culture  ;  into  the  midst  of  this  intellec- 
tual materialism,  the  clear  light  of  spiritual  life  and  spirit 
intelligences,  like  the  crisp  odor  from  the  far  off  ocean  of 
inspiration,  has  swept  into  man's  life,  bringing  every  one  of 
the  spiritual  gifts  with  it.  Every  one  that  was  laid  by  on  the 
theological  shelf  as  valueless  ;  every  one  that  theology  had 
said  was  impossible  to-day — only  existed  in  the  day  of  mira- 
cles— they  come  trooping  in  like  white  birds  from  the  gi-eat 
ecean  of  eternal  life,  saying,  "  We  are  neither  dead  nor  out  of 
place,  but  are  fresh  from  the  hand  of  the  Infinite,  and  icill  have 
our  way." 

So  they  are  having  their  way  ;  they  are  showing  their 
signs  in  your  midst,  and  one  of  the  chiefest  of  these  signs  is 
the  gift  of  knowledge. 

It  comes  confounding  the  priests  and  professors  of   the- 


160 

ology  ;  it  comes  disputing  with  them  in  their  own  temples  ami 
places  from  the  lips  of  little  children  ;  it  comes  to  gentle 
women,  unaccustomed  to  speech,  and  with  its  stern  logic  and 
superior  power  makes  itself  manifest  and  felt.  It  comes  into 
the  halls  of  legislation,  and  there  turns  hack  the  tide  of  the 
inquisition  that  would  force  men  to  do  obedience  to  laws  which 
their  conscience  does  not  approve.  It  comes  to  sustain  the 
gift  of  healing,  to  sustain  the  gift  of  the  working  of  wonders, 
of  miracles  :  to  sustain  the  gift  of  prophecy.  It  comes  with 
all  history  at  its  bidding  ;  it  can  refer  you  to  the  oracles  of  the 
past  time  ;  it  can  tell  you  of  the  manifestations  of  the  spirit  ; 
it  can  say  to  you,  Confucius  and  Plato  and  Buddha  were  the 
bearers  of  its  truth  ;  it  can  tell  you  of  prophets  in  all  times — 
of  Isis  and  Osiris  ;  it  can  tell  you  of  the  history  of  India  and 
Persia  ;  of  Egypt,  that  Mother  of  Nations,  and  it  can  go  back 
of  all  history  and  show  you  the  fountains  whence  the  source 
of  human  knowledge  springs. 

It  can  breathe  upon  you  the  matchless  mysteries  of  all 
past  times  ;  unlock  the  secrets  of  the  pyramids  ;  reveal  the 
wonders  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  ;  unveil  the  mystic  signifi- 
cance of  the  Sphinx,  and  show  you  a  God  behind  all  these 
symbols,  responding  eternally,  and  potent  for  good,  making 
His  altars  in  every  age,  His  angels  ministering  spirits,  and  lit- 
tle children  the  mouth-piece  of  His  wonders. 

It  can  make  the  feeble  things  of  earth  to  confound  the  wise, 
and  rear  up  the  instruments  of  its  power  so  that  tongues,  and 
languages,  and  sciences,  and  kingdoms  of  human  power  are  as 
naught  before  it.  And  yet  man  says  :  "  We  must  have  schools 
to  educate  our  mediums  !  " 

Educate  them  to  do  what  ?  To  speak  correctly  ?  Then  the 
voice  of  the  spirit  is  in  vain.  To  live  correctly  ?  That  must  be 
by  spiritual  growth. 

If  you  have  had  enough  of  superficial  organizations  in 
past  time,  in  the  name  of  heaven  let  the  spirit  do  its  work  ! 
If  men  and  women  are  good  they  will  lead  good  lives  ;  if 
they  are  not  good,  the  false  assumes  a  superficial  piety  which 
cannot  be  hid  from  the  searching  eye  of  the  spirit. 

You  have  healed  over  these  wounds  long  enough  ;  let  the 
spirit  teach  you  to  do  good,  and  above  all,  see  that  the  mote  is 
cast  from  your  own  eye. 


161 

What  will  you  teach  them  ?  The  gifts  of  the  spirit  ?  You 
do  not  know  them.  The  process  of  mediumship  ?  You  do  not 
understand  it.  Under  what  conditions  the}'  become  mediums, 
you  have  not  the  slightest  knowledge  on  that  subjed  :  you  do 
not  know  the  first  letter  of  the  alphabet  of  making  one  of  the 
smallest  spiritual  manifestations.  You  cannot  tell,  were  you 
summoned  to-day,  under  what  condition  the  first  rap  was  pro- 
duced. You  do  not  know  the  laws,  you  do  not  understand  the 
methods,  you  have  no  scientific  formula,  no  words,  no  ideas 
with  which  you  can  grasp  the  subtle  forces  by  which  a  spirit 
moves  an  atom  of  matter. 

Shall  you  teach  that  which  you  have  not  even  the  alpha- 
bet of?  Nay,  rather  let  it  be  that  the  result  shall  flow  into 
your  lives  ;  for  after  all  the  gifts  of  prophecy,  of  the  working 
of  miracles,  of  the  gift  of  healing,  of  the  gift  of  tongues,  of  the 
interpretation  of  tongues,  of  the  gift  of  knowledge,  and  the 
gift  of  wisdom,  is  it  not  that  divinest  Charity  shall  flow 
through  your  lives,  and  that  the  opulence  of  spiritual  life 
shall  make  for  itself  in  your  midst  the  grand  treasure-house 
of  intelligence  ? 

Do  not  think,  therefore,  you  who  say  you  would  like  to 
be  Spiritualists  if  it  will  give  you  knowledge  of  history,  or  of 
chemistry,  or  of  geology,  or  of  astronomy,  that  you  can  find 
this  gift  with  that  motive. 

We  have  never  known  any  who  wished  to  shine  in  intel- 
lect, and  whose  mental  culture  was  to  be  made  the  standard 
of  spiritual  truth,  and  who  were  to  take  an  external  unfold- 
ment  of  spiritualism  for  the  purpose  of  brilliant  intellectual 
attainment,  ever  succeed. 

There  came  to  us  in  our  ministrations  once  a  young  man, 
who  said:  "  I  have  listened  to  this,  and  if  it  can  impart  to  me 
a  knowledge  of  history,  of  geology,  of  languages  and  science, 
I  would  like  to  be  cultivated  in  this  school."  And  straight- 
way we  said  to  the  young  man:  "Go  thy  way!  Universities, 
colleges,  encyclopedias  are  for  external  culture;  but  if  you  will 
have  the  gift  of  the  spirit;  if  you  will  seek  the  kingdom  of  its 
love;  if  you  wish  to  know  its  measureless  sources  of  light;  it 
you  would  have  the  work  of  the  spirit  wrought  in  your  life, 
you  must  seek  it  from  within." 
(39) 


162 

And  he  came  day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour  to  listen  to 
the  word  and  the  teaching.  Less  and  less  the  thought  of  the 
brilliant  culture  was  in  his  mind;  less  and  less  the  idea  of  the 
teaching  of  the  schools,  until  finally  the  one  pervading  thought 
was,  not  to  study  astronomy,  or  mathematics,  or  history,  but 
the  knowledge  of  the  soul — how  is  that  best  attained  ?  And 
into  his  young  life  there  came  such  a  wonderful  work  as 
Christians  profess,  but  few  possess.  Fur,  after  all  the  teach- 
ing he  perceived  that  goodness  is  more  than  intellect;  that 
charity  is  greater  than  all  gifts,  since  it  is  unfailing.  And  in 
every  word  and  thought  of  his  life  he  endeavored  to  apply  this 
teaching.  ( 

If  you  do  this,  I  assure  you  it  is  a  greater  wonder  than 
all  knowledge,  than  all  the  mysteries  of  ancient  lore;  than  the 
learning  which  is  valueless,  or  the  science  which  is  but  the 
means  to  an  end.  This  clear,  pure,  transparent  and  perfect 
whiteness  of  the  soul  is  the  only  knowledge  that  is  worth  the 
possessing;  for  when  moons  and  stars  and  suns  shall  fade; 
when  astronomy  shall  cease  to  have  relation  to  your  being; 
when  the  earth  and  its  laws  can  no  longer  affect  you;  when  the 
chemical  changes  of  organic  life  cease  to  obstruct  or  fetter 
you,  that  whiteness  of  the  soul  shall  shine  and  gleam  through 
all  the  starry  heavens,  and  make  for  itself  a  place  in  the  eternal 
kingdoms  of  light. 

Is  not  this  the  greatest  knowledge  ?  Is  not  this  the  divinest 
test  ?  This  one  superabundant  and  absolute  life;  this  one 
pervading  whiteness,  greater  than  death,  greater  than  time, 
greater  than  sense,  greater  than  all  things  save  immortal  life — 
and  that  is  the  ultimate  gift  of  knowledge. 


163 


A  Summary  of  Spiritual  Gifts, 


Which  is  the  Best  Gift  ? 
V  

"  Covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts." 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  gift  of  propecy,  the  gift  of 
healing,  the  gift  of  tongues,  or  the  interpretation  of  tongues, 
or  even  the  gift  of  knowledge,  is  greater  than  the  other,  but  it 
means  that  each  human  spirit  should  earnestly  desire  that 
which  is  best  for  himself  or  herself. 

There  were  those  in  ancient  days  who  most  earnestly 
desired  to  be  disciples  and  apostles,  to  whom  the  gift  of  teach- 
ing did  not  come.  Undoubtedly  there  were  those  having  the 
gift  of  the  working  of  wonders  or  miracles,  who  might  have 
pi'eferred  the  gift  of  healing,  and  possibly  some  having  a  sin- 
gle gift  who  might  desire  all  the  spiritual  gifts. 

But  is  it  not  true  that  whom  the  spirit  desires  it  will 
search  out  ?  It  will  find  them  in  their  accustomed  places  of 
labor,  as  the  fishermen  by  the  sea  were  called  upon  to  labor 
with  Christ,  while  in  the  temples  the  learned  were  not  sum- 
moned. Is  it  not  true  that  whom  the  spirit  requires  it  will 
find,  as  down  in  Nazareth  came  the  light,  uncalled  for,  unsum- 
moned  from  those  in  power  in  Jerusalem  ? 

Thus  the  spirit  worketh  ever  for  the  world.  These  gifts 
wei;e  given  by  power  of  discernment  from  above,  that  from  the 
weak  the  wise  and  strong  might  be  confounded,  and  from  the 
lips  of  little  children  the  great  men  of  the  earth  might  learn 
wisdom.  Is  not  this  also  true  in  every  age  ?  Have  not  proph- 
ets and  martyrs  endowed  with  these  gifts,  earnestly  seeking 
the  best  from  the  spirit,  been  reared  in  their  time  and  place 
and  chosen  for  the  work  they  were  to  perform  ?  And  have  not 
some  been  chosen  without  reference  to  worldlv  wisdom,  earth- 
ly  position,  elevation  of  place,  just  because  the  spirit  saw  that 
this  was  the  wiser  and  better  way  ? 

In  human  life  you  generally  wish,  or  covet,  or  seek  that 


164 

which  brings  the  greatest  power — wealth,  fame,  the  crown, 
the  kingdom.  In  human  life  you  would  seek  much  for  little, 
and  without  giving  from  the  spiritual  wealth  of  your  own  pos- 
session would  ask  for  all  spiritual  wealth  to  be  bestowed  upon 
you  ;  giving  nothing  in  return,  you  seek  for  the  highest  gifts. 
You  ask  that  knowledge  and  wisdom,  and  the  gifts  of  healing 
and  of  tongues  may  be  yours,  and  still  from  the  storehouse  of 
your  spirit,  from  within  your  own  natures,  you  are  content  to 
give  nothing  unto  humanity. 

There  are  those  who  declare  that  these  spiritual  gifts  of 
which  we  have  been  teaching  in  our  late  discourses  have 
ceased  and  no  longer  exist  in  the  world.  Then  where  is  the 
faith  that  makes  them  possible  ?  Where  is  the  belief  that 
brings,  as  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  these  gifts  ?  And 
where  the  wonders  that  the  Christian  Church  has  previously 
wrought  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Spirit '?  Nay,  the  gifts  die 
out  only  where  the  love  of  the  spirit  does  not  abide.  Those 
who  believe  in  the  spirit  of  Christ's  teachings  have  these  signs 
to  follow  them,  whether  it  be  within  the  pale  of  the  Christian 
Church,  or  whether  it  be  outside,  and  still  it  is  evidence  of 
the  power  that  is  there  working  its  way  from  the  invisible  to 
the  visible  universe,  and  proclaiming  its  presence  by  the 
divine  mandate  of  the  spirit. 

All  are  endowed  in  some  measure  with  the  gifts  of  the 
spirit.  At  any  time  the  overflowing  from  the  fountain  within 
may  bring  unto  your  lives  the  working  of  some  of  these  won- 
ders, and  to  a  great  extent  this  prevailing  power  may  shape  the 
destiny  and  unfold  the  life  until  it  shall  grow  in  the  sem- 
blance of  that  which  is  divine.  To  a  great  extent  the  work- 
ing of  so-called  miracles  is  in  the  experience  of  every  human 
life.  Some  deed  or  work  springs  to  your  life  unaccompanied 
from  without,  that  reveals  the  presence  and  guiding  care  of 
Infinite  Love.  None  are  so  poor,  are  so  forgotten,  are  so  des- 
olate in  the  kingdom  of  life  that  these  gifts  may  not  flow  into 
their  being  and  become  a  part  of  their  existence.  If  you  ask 
how  ?  we  answer,  the  methods  of  the  spirit  are  still  unknown 
to  the  man  of  science,  and  though  he  may  claim  it  as  an 
"  occult  force  in  nature,"  it  is  the  occult  force  of  spirit  alone 
that  bestows  it. 


L65 

If  yon  ask  in  what  manner  you  may  cultivate  these  gifts, 
we  answer,  you  cannot  cultivate  them  by  external  knowledg<  . 
by  any  outward  seeking-,  but  only  by  that  condition  of  spirit 
enjoined  by  the  Great  Teacher  in  the  olden  time;  for  it  is  the 
possession  of  the  spirit  that  constitutes  the  power  of  these 
gifts;  but  it  is  neither  intellect,  science,  knowledge,  the  trea- 
sures of  art,  the  learning  of  earth,  the  power  of  priest,  or 
king,  or  potentate,  but  the  light  that  shines  from  that  altar 
within  the  soul,  inviting  all  ministrations  from  the  spirit. 

There  are  those  who  say :  "  I  would  seek  the  spirit  if  I 
could  have  the  gift  of  healing,  or  of  knowledge,  or  of  the 
working  of  miracles,  so  I  might  convince  others." 

Why  not  seek  the  spirit  without  regard  to  what  you  will 
get  ?  It  is  not  bartered  and  sold;  it  is  not  something  that  you 
can  have  for  a  price,  as  you  would  deal  in  merchandise. 
When  Christ  said:  "Seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness,  and  all  things  shall  be  added  unto  you,"  there 
were  those  in  the  utilitarian  age  of  the  w'orld  who  said :  "  This 
is  nonsense;  we  must  seek  that  which  is  required  for  our  daily 
life.     The  kingdom  of  God,  indeed!     What  can  that  bring?" 

But  is  it  not  true,  let  me  ask,  that  such  as  sow  in  the  wind 
reap  in  the  whirlwind  ?  If  you  seek  anger,  and  pride,  and 
ambition,  does  it  not  bring  you  back  the  fruitage  of  Dead  Sea 
wastes,  and  bitter  herbs,  and  strivings,  and  contentions  ? 
Unto  whom  worldly  power  is  given  do  not  the  summoning 
forces  of  the  earth  send  everything  that  may  lead  at  once  to 
the  reaction  of  his  deception  ?  If  you  seek  mental  power 
alone,  does  it  not  bring  you  face  to  face  at  once  w7ith  the  barren 
wall  of  desolation;  with  nothing  to  comfort  you  beyond  the 
earthly  life,  and  nothing  in  this  life  that  is  as  valuable  as  the 
supreme  treasure  of  existence?  If  you  seek  from  humanity, 
from  the  tears,  and  groans,  and  labor  of  the  poor  that  which 
shall  upbuild  your  power,  do  you  not  reap  the  reward  by  and 
by  of  social  anarchy  and  political  despotism?  And  if  you 
seek  the  gift  of  the  spirit  unqualifiedly  and  for  its  own  sake, 
does  it  not  bring  in  turn  all  powers  and  dominion,  since  your 
human  passions  are  in  subjection  ? 

Nay;  more  than  this.     You  cannot  seek  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  for  reward,  nor  the  gifts  of   the  spirit  for  the  worldly 
(40) 


166 

power  they  will  bring.  But  unto  such  as  have  the  gifts  of  the 
spirit,  and  unto  such  as  seek  them  for  their  own  sake,  all 
powers  are  in  subjection;  all  forces  of  the  visible  universe  will 
follow  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  man  exalted  above  selfishness. 

Unto  him  the  winds  of  heaven  sing  their  sweetest  soncs- 
unto  him  the  birds  carol  their  gladsome  strain,  and  the  sun- 
shine is  his  possession.  Unto  him  the  cooling  streams  yield 
the  treasures  of  their  delightful  and  wondrous  power,  and 
human  hearts  respond  in  the  exhaling  of  fragrance  to  him  who 
shines  upon  them  from  within. 

Not  only  so,  but  it  is  a  law  in  the  spiritual  kingdom  that 
if  you  place  yourself  in  accord  with  the  infinite  laws  of  the 
spirit,  they  respond  as  readily  as  light,  as  heat,  as  atmosphere, 
as  the  earth  does  when  you  place  yourself  in  accord  with  them. 

You  do  not  invite  the  light  of  heaven  by  shutting  and 
barring  your  windows  ami  doors.  You  do  not  expect  fresh 
air  when  every  avenue  is  closed  by  which  it  may  be  intro- 
duced. You  do  not  study  astronomy  by  putting  an  obstruc- 
tion in  the  end  of  the  telescope;  nor  do  you  study  chemistry 
by  breaking  up  the  crucible  in  which  the  secrets  are  solved. 
Yet  you  ask  for  the  riches  of  the  spirit  to  pour  in  upon  you 
without  any  condition  of  yourselves.  You  ask  for  the  light 
of  the  spirit  to  come  in  obedience  to  your  pride,  your  ignorance, 
willfulness,  self-seeking,  and  work  its  wonders  iu  your  lives 
without  any  of  the  conditions  of  spiritual  being. 

Now,  wonders  will  be  wrought  and  sometimes  unworthy 
servants  may  be  chosen  as  an  illustration  of  a  principle;  but  if 
you  would  have  the  "  best  gifts  "  and  the  best  power  of  the 
spirit  yielding  its  results  unto  your  lives,  you  must  seek  them 
on  spiritual  conditions.  Those  spiritual  conditions  are:  first, 
foremost,  primarily,  at  the  basis  of  all,  absolute  unselfishness; 
for  unto  whom  the  light  of  the  spirit  can  flow  divinest  and 
best  there  must  be  no  barrier  of  self-seeking,  no  pride  of 
individual  or  personal  power,  no  love  of  human  praise  or 
applause,  but  only  the  clear,  transparent  soul  that  would  have 
no  shadow  lie  between  itself  and  the  divine  sunlight  of  God's 
love. 

Can  you  not  see  it  ?     And  do  you  not  know  that  the  pho- 
tographer must  have  the  perfect  and  higher  light  of  the  sun's 


167 

rays  to  give  the  best  results;  and  only  such  shadow  shall  come 
between  that  camera  and  the  subject  as  is  necessary  when  he 
arranges  it  ? 

So  in  the  great  light  of  the  spirit  such  tempering  as  is 
required  by  jour  souls,  the  angelic  ministrants  will  under- 
stand ;  but  place  you  no  shadow  there,  for  the  light  must 
come  and  the  guidance  of  it  from  that  which  is  beyond. 

But  how  shall  we  know  of  the  gifts  of  the  spirit  excepting 
by  their  results  ?  We  cannot  safely  follow  that  which  brings 
us  no  visible  results. 

Ave,  here  is  the  commercial  tendency  of  man  even  in 
matters  of  salvation  ;  something  is  given  for  a  price,  and  the 
soul  of  man  is  supposed  to  be  that  which  is  bartered  and  sold 
by  the  blood  of  the  visible  Christ. 

Let  us  have  done  with  commerce  in  matters  of  spirit  ! 
Let  us  see  that  the  light  of  God's  love  shines  through  His 
spiritual  gifts  where  needed,  comprehended  and  understood  ; 
and  that  the  only  condition  required  is  that  you  shall  be  pre- 
pared to  receive  that  wdiich  shall  come  to  you.  That  there  is 
no  barter,  no  sale,  no  debit  and  credit  in  the  great  kingdom 
of  God's  love,  save  that  alone  that  is  recorded  in  the  inner- 
most sanctuary  of  your  spirits,  and  that  the  light  of  the  spirit 
is  for  all  such  time  as  the  windows  of  your  souls  are  opened, 
such  time  as  the  barriers  are  removed,  and  the  self-seeking 
conies  from  that  which  is  divine  and  perfect. 

We  have  portrayed  in  these  discourses  how  the  gifts  of  the 
spirit  are  the  visible  expression  of  a  power  that  is  beyond  the 
temporal  and  material  laws  of  the  universe.  How  that  visible 
expression  is  governed,  not  by  mundane  but  by  supermundane 
laws.  How  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit  works  independently, 
oftentimes,  of  the  conditions  of  material  life  for  the  purpose  of 
expressing  the  power  of  the  spirit  to  man.  But  it'  this  were 
all ;  if  the  working  of  wonders  or  miracles,  the  gift  of  healing, 
the  gift  of  tongues,  of  interpretation  of  tongues,  the  gift  of 
knowledge  and  the  gifts  and  powers  known  to  abound  among 
those  who  have  demonstrated  them— if  this  were  all,  it  would 
be  nothing. 

The  stepping-stone  is  here  to  that  divine  and  innermost 
light  whereof  spirit  and  its  knowledge  stands  revealed  to  you  : 


168 

and  this  is  why  you  are  commanded  to  covet  earnestly  the 
best  gifts.  This  is  why,  in  summing  up,  Paul  says  :  "  Though 
I  have  the  gifts  of  men  and  of  angels  and  have  not  charity,  I 
am  nothing." 

Unless  the  work  is  wrought  in  your  life,  unless  the  gift 
leads  to  the  divine  sources  of  healing,  unless  it  leads  to  the 
divine  source  of  teaching,  unless  it  unseals  the  fountain  from 
within  and  brings  forth  'fruitage  in  your  lives,  what  does  it 
matter  that  these  wonders  are  wrought  in  your  midst  ? 

And  what  is  this  charity,  so  exalted  and  so  upheld  as  the 
chiefest  of  the  Christian  graces,  divinest  among  the  sacred 
sisterhood  of  angelic  ministrants  unto  earth  '?  Is  it  the  en- 
dowment of  alms  to  the  poor  ?  Is  it  the  feeding  and  cloth- 
ing of  the  hungry  and  naked  ?  Is  it  the  visiting  of  the  widow 
and  fatherless  alone  ?  It  is  these,  but  it  is  much  more  ;  for 
endowments  may  fail  from  lack  of  charity,  and  the  money 
that  you  give  to  the  poor  may  be  the  bribe  that  you  offer  to 
heaven  as  a  substitution  for  love.  That  which  you  give  in 
an  external  sense  you  may  think  sufficient.  Christian  lands 
point  with  pride  at  their  institutions  of  charity,  while  the 
streets  are  filled  with  want  and  misery  and  woe,  and  side  by 
side  the  Christian  asylum  and  the  Christian  jail  rear  their 
domes  to  heaven. 

Is  this,  then,  that  chai'ity  that  suffereth  long  and  is  kind  ; 
that  envieth  not,  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up,  doth 
not  behave  itself  unseemly  ?  Has  the  work  of  Christian  char- 
ity wrought  its  way  in  the  world  V 

Do  you  know  that  it  means  not  alone  the  giving  of  alms 
to  the  poor,  the  answering  of  the  appeal  that  comes  from  the 
street,  but  it  means  that  you  shall  see  to  it  that  there  are  no 
paupers  in  this  Christian  land  ;  that  there  shall  be  no  neces- 
sity for  orphan  asylums  ;  that  no  child  shall  feel  the  need  or 
want  of  a  mother's  love.  It  means  that  into  the  houses  of 
opulence  and  into  the  homes  of  comfort  these  little  waifs  shall 
be  taken,  and  fed  upon  the  honey-tlew  of  love  until  they  do  not 
know  what  orphanage  means.  It  signifies  that  there  shall  be 
asylums — not  prisons,  but  such  sweet  places  as  love  may  enter 
with  divinest  ministration  to  heal  the  wounded  spirits  of  those 
who  came  into  the  world  deformed  in  soul,  as  many  do  in 
body. 


L69 

It  is  the  boast  of  your  Christian  civilization  that  eyes  have 
been  given  to  the  blind  ;  that  skillful  letters  and  printed  pages 
have  been  fashioned,  and  so  arranged  that  the  tender  touch  of 
the  blind  may  be  able  to  catch  the  ideas  conveyed  ;  that  music 
can  be  taught,  until  those  without  vision  may  have  a  second 
sight  and  inspiration  through  music.  Ears  have  been  given 
to  the  deaf  and  voice  to  the  mute,  and  out  of  the  silence  have 
come  forth  the  wonderful  heart-beats  that  throb  for  utterance. 
But  more  than  this  :  the  imbecile  and  idiot,  under  the  skill- 
ful manipulation  of  men  of  divinest  wisdom  and  charity, 
have  found  voice,  and  tongue,  and  inspiration  ;  the  prison- 
house  of  the  spirit  set  free,  the  chained  faculties  made  subser- 
vient to  the  soul  that  was  within.  But  crime,  and  sin,  ami 
wretchedness  alone  have  remained,  bare  and  barren  plague- 
spots  upon  Christian  society  because  of  the  want  of  Christian 
charity. 

To  teach  the  blind  to  see  is  a  great  act  of  virtue  ;  but  the 
spiritually  blind  may  have  their  other  senses  crushed  as  well 
as  their  eyes  burnt  out.  To  teach  the  deaf  to  hear  has  been 
a  great  act  of  civilization,  but  he  who  is  morally  deaf,  who  is 
morally  infirm,  he  must  be  branded  with  another  scourge,  a 
greater  indignity  put  upon  him  because  he  cannot  hear  a  word 
of  truth.  To  teach  the  lame  to  walk,  and  fashion  appliances 
whereby  they  may  do  so,  is  a  great  virtue,  and  shows  the  skill- 
ful mechanical  surgery  of  this  century.  But  he  who  morally 
falters  by  the  wayside,  whose  limbs  are  too  weak  to  bear  him 
through  the  surging  crowd  of  human  temptations,  he  is 
denounced  and  condemned  to  death.  Christians  teaching  the 
Golden  Rule  apply  the  severity  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  this  is 
called  charity. 

We  say  to  you  that  the  physically  lame,  and  physically 
blind,  and  physically  deaf,  and  the  physically  hungry  need 
your  charity  :  but  more  than  this,  more  than  the  demand  of 
the  spirit,  the  highest  and  holiest  desire  of  the  soul  of  man  is 
life.  Those  who  morally  and  spiritually  are  incapable,  and 
yet  from  whom  you  turn  with  scorn  and  scoffing,  not  caring 
to  find  the  cause  of  their  malady  near  the  cure  for  it,  but  only 
intent  upon  putting  them  out  of  the  way— yes,  put  them  out 
of  the  way  until  by  the  reaction  that  comes  from  the  invisible 
world,  and  until  by  the  power  of  that  protest  that  rises  up  in 
(41) 


170 

humanity,  human  society  .perceives  the  eharnel  house  in  which 
it  lives. 

O  it  means  that  broad  charity  that  extends  its  mantle 
not  only  over  the  feeble  in  body  and  those  who  are  infirm,  but 
the  feeble  in  mind  and  spirit.  And  more  than  this,  it  comes 
straight  home  to  your  individual  lives.  You  have  charity  for 
the  man,  perhaps,  who  wrongs  your  neighbor,  who  commits 
some  injustice  to  another,  or  who,  indeed,  in  the  hour  of  mad- 
ness or  moral  infirmity  slays  another  man  ;  but  he  who  wrongs 
you  let  him  beware  !  The  mantle  of  charity  which  you  have 
extended  to  him  who  wrongs  your  neighbor  has  not  sufficient 
scope  to  reach  the  one  who  does  you  an  injustice. 

()  whiteness  of  charity  !  Thou  wouldst  turn  thy  face 
away  at  such  false  name  as  is  given  to  thee,  when  he  to  whom 
an  injury  is  given  inflicts  the  last  penalty  of  the  law,  and  says: 
"  Let  us  have  Christian  charity  for  all  our  fellow-sinners." 

Nay,  the  first,  the  final,  the  whitest  blossoming  of  charity 
is  from  within.  "Forgive  your  enemies;  do  good  to  them 
that  hate  you."  The  Golden  Rule  is  not  intended  for  you  to 
apply  for  the  benefit  of 'your  neighbor,  but  yourselves.  It  is 
you  that  should  return  the  good  for  the  evil  ;  it  is  you  that 
are  to  overcome  evil  with  good  ;  it  is  you  that  are  to  find  out 
these  wrongs  and  infirmities  and  seek  to  assuage  them  ;  it  is 
you  that  are  summoned  by  this  voice  of  the  spirit  to  the  state 
and  feeling  of  charity. 

You  see  why  it  is  a  gift  now.  You  understand  why  it  is  more 
valuable  than  all  others.  For  you  may  have  the  gift  of  tongues 
bestowed  upon  you;  the  gift  of  healing,  the  power  of  working 
of  miracles  may  come  from  above,  but  charity  can  only  come 
from  within.  It  must  be  the  outgrowth  of  your  own 
nature;  it  must  be  that  sublime  and  perfect  whiteness  that, 
while  it  sees  the  error  and  still  understands  that  it  is  not 
good,  has  no  word  of  condemnation. 

Yon  bright  sunshine  filling  the  worlds  with  splendor  on 
this  glorious  Sabbath  morning  teaches  you  a  lesson  of  charity. 
Where  the  mists  came  rolling  in  from  the  ocean,  filling  all  the 
canyons  and  covering  the  hill-sides  with  a  cloud;  where,  over 
the  broad  plain  and  along  the  rivers  the  darkness  of  the 
night  hovered  and  the  dampness  brooded  with  its  wings  of 
shadow — no  violence,  no  struggling,  but  only  the  peaceful 
light   of    the   morning    sun    gradually,     constantly,    grandly 


rolling  up  from  the  eastern  horizon  until,  like  frightened 
ghosts  of  wrong  ;uid  misery,  the  mists  fled  away  down  the 
mountain  sides,  hastened  into  the  valleys,  and  away  off  on  the 
wings  of  the  morning  were  ushered  into  oblivion;  the  sea  toot 
back  the  pinions  that  it  had  given  for  the  night,  and  the 
drooping  flowers  that  had  received  the  baptism  of  dew  and  of 
shadow  lifted  their  eyes  unto  the  light  of  day.  Noiselessly, 
triumphantly,  with  constant  power  and  ealnmess  the  wonder- 
ful working  of  the  sunlight  goes  on  in  the  world,  and  no  man 
perceives  it. 

Even  thus  it  is  with  the  light  of  charity.  It  vaunteth 
not  itself ;  it  is  not  puffed  up;  it  sounds  no  trumpet  blasts;  it 
bears  no  banners;  it  has  no  martial  music;  it  makes  no  parade 
of  the  wonders  of  its  power.  In  this  Chistian  land,  in  this 
nation  of  civilized  and  enlightened  minds  there  is  room  for 
display;  room  for  banners  and  martial  music;  room  for  those 
who  proclaim  that  they  shall  go  to  Jerusalem  for  the  visible 
body  of  Ohrist;  but  no  room  for  the  spirit  of  that  Christ  that 
would  make  it  impossible  for  a  poor  man  to  starve  to  death 
in  this  city  within  a  week,  while  fifty  thousand  dollars  are 
a-iven  to  those  who  make  boast  that  Jerusalem  is  their  shrine. 

[Refers  to  the  Masonic  Triennial  in  San  Francisco,  held 
at  the  time  this  discourse  was  delivered.] 

O  mockery  of  Christ  !  The  visible  body  that  ye  seek  is 
here  in  humanity  ! 

()  mockery  of  the  meaning  of  Christ's  words  !  Ye  res- 
cue Christ  from  the  hands  of  Pagan  and  Saracen,  such  times 
as  ye  rescue  humanity  from  the  sorrow  and  pain  of  wrong  and 
misery  that  lies  at  your  door. 

Ten  thousand  dollars  for  native  wines  !     Not  one  cent   for 
the  wine  of  the  spirit  that  is  to  flow  out  for  the    healin 
the  nations. 

We  make  no  fault  of  this  ;  no  one  can  excel  in  love  of 
fellowship,  hospitality,  and  the  graces  that  belong  to  human 
society  ;  but  if  we  have  the  standard  of  Christ,  let  it  mean 
something  in  our  daily  lives. 

No  one  regards  the  past  more  sacredly  than  we  do.  The 
knight  leaving  home  and  fireside  and  friends  to  do  battle  for 
the  right  ;  he,  who  believing  that  Jerusalem  is  the  most  sacred 
shrine,  following  in  the  Crusades  until  the  wars  were  ended. 
But  in  their  very  mockery  of  this,  God  put  his  visible  sign  of 


172 

disapproval  upon  the  visible  Jerusalem,  and  made  the  spirit 
of  man  everywhere  the  shrine  of  the  sacred  pilgrimage.  To  do 
good  unto  others  ;  to  give  your  lives  for  their  sakes  ;  to  make 
no  journey  that  shall  yield  unto  you  physical  results,  save  in 
the  name  of  its  profession. 

But  when  Christ  is  summoned  from  the  spirit  universe, 
and  that  lovely  light  of  charity  that  enfolds  and  enshines  him 
in  the  hearts  of  humanity,  we  say,  let  him  be  summoned  fit- 
tingly, in  the  name  of  that  humanity  whose  light  he  was, 
whose  child  he  typified  ;  in  the  name  of  that  humanity  whose 
love  now  calls  for  him  at  the  gates  of  all  temples,  beyond  all 
lodges  and  all  wonderful  shrines. 

0  Christ  of  the  spirit!  by  thy  charity,  white  as  snow,  in 
the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  sons  of  earth,  let  us  have  the  new 
temple,  the  new  order,  the  new  shrine! 

1  would  rather  be  with  those  pleading  for  the  rights  of 
man,  than  with  all  kingdoms,  and  princes,  and  knights,  who, 
for  the  past  name's  sake,  see  not  the  humanity  pleading  at 
their  doors,  and  see  not  the  signs  of  the  coming  of  the  n*w 
Christ,  that  God  thereby  may  bring  again  the  red  cross  into 
the  world;  for  if  battle  shall  come  again  to  earth  it  will  be 
between  that  humanity  struggling,  striving,  seeking  to  rise, 
and  these  very  powers  who  would  build  a  citadel  for  the  few 
and  refuse  the  many  the  crust  of  bread  which  they  ask  in  the 
name  of  humanity. 

I  see  the  visible  form  of  that  Christ  before  me  now;  not 
borne  from  His  cross  upon  Calvary;  not  laid  away  in  the 
sepulcher;  not  resurrected  in  bodily  form  again  among  the 
disciples,  but  the  visible  risen  form  in  the  little  children  that 
are  around  me  in  the  streets,  in  the  little  countenances 
that  you  see  day  by  day  in  the  pain,  and  woe,  and  the  misery 
that  walks  abroad  in  this  land.  And  I  hear  the  pleading  voice 
of  Him  who  said:  "Inasmuch  as  you  do  it  unto  the  least  of 
these  it  is  done  also  unto  me." 

So  that  voice  of  humanity  pleadeth  to-day,  and  that  gift  of 
divinest  charity  asks  for  a  place  in  your  midst.  Be  you  its 
heralders;  be  you  those  who  shall  welcome  its  coming,  and 
not  the  red  but  the  white  eross  of  divinest  spiritual  love.  Let 
this  descend  in  your  midst  and  make  its  way  in  your  hearts 
until  there  shall  be  no  poor  in  spirit,  none  who  are  famishing 
for  the  bread  of  life,  and  none,  indeed,  who  lack  for  that 
which  vou  can  give.     ,  tmu 

/  7  4H10 


;; 


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